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" SIC ITUR AD ASTRA.' 



LIFE 



JOHN LEDYARD, 



AMERICAN TRAVELLER; 



COMPRISING SELECTIONS 



FROM HIS JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



By JARED SPARKS. 



SECOND EDITION. 



CAMBRIDGE, 
PUBLISHED BY HILLIARD AND BROWN. 

1829. 



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fr 



DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, to wit: 

DISTRICT CLERK'S OFFICE. 

Be it remembered, that on the twenty-fourth day of November ? 1827, in the 
fifty-second year of the Independence of the United States of America, Hilliard, 
& Brown, of the said district, have deposited in this office the title of a book, 
the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit: 

" The Life of John Ledyard, the American Traveller ; comprising Selections 
from his Journals and Correspondence. By Jared Sparks." 

In conformity to an act of the Congress of the United States, entitled " An 
act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, 
and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein 
mentioned;" and also to an act, entitled "An act supplementary to an act, 
entitled ' An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of 
maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during 
the times therein mentioned ; ' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of 
designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." 

JNO. W. DAVIS, 
Clerk of the District of Massachusetts. 



CAMBRIDGE : . , 
HILLIARD, METCALF, AND COMPANY, 
PRINTERS TO THE UWIVERBITT. 



PREFACE. 



Soon after the death of John Ledyard, the subject of 
the following memoir, some progress was made in col- 
lecting materials for an account of his life, by Dr Isaac 
Ledyard, then of New York. The biographer's task 
was never begun, however, and the project was aban- 
doned ; but the papers procured for the purpose have 
been preserved by the family of Dr Ledyard, and have 
furnished the facts for much the larger portion of the 
present narrative. Researches have also been made in 
other quarters, and important original letters obtained. 
Particular acknowledgment is due to Mr Henry Sey- 
mour, of Hartford, Connecticut, for the aid he has 
rendered in this respect. All the papers that have been 
used are entitled to the credit of unquestionable authen- 
ticity. 

Wherever it could be done, without deviating too 
much from a regular and proportionate train of events, 
the traveller has been allowed to speak for himself. His 
manner of thinking, as well as of acting, was so peculiar, 
that a true picture of his mind and genius, his mo- 
tives and feelings, could with difficulty be exhibited in 
any other way with so much distinctness, as through the 
medium of his own language. Free and full selections 
from his letters and journals are interspersed. His 



X 



IV PREFACE. 

incessant activity, want of leisure, and few opportuni- 
ties of practising composition as an art, afford an apology 
for the imperfections of his style, which the candid 
-reader will regard in the favorable light it deserves. 
His diction is never polished, and his words are not al- 
ways well chosen ; but his ideas are often original, 
copious, well combined, and forcibly expressed. 

In executing this work, the only aim has been to bring 
together a series of facts which should do justice to the 
fame and character of a man, who possessed qualities 
and performed deeds, that rendered him remarkable, 
and are worthy of being remembered. If the author 
has been successful in this attempt, he is rewarded for 
the labor it has cost him. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



Birth and parentage. — Early education. — Begins the study of 
the law. — Enters Dartmouth College with a view to qualify 
himself to be a missionary among the Indians. — State of the 
Indian missions at that time. — His fondness for theatrical 
exhibitions while at College. — Travels among the Indians of 
the Six Nations. — His return to College, and adventure in 
visiting a mountain. — Constructs a canoe at Dartmouth Col- 
lege with his own hands, and descends the Connecticut river 
in it alone to Hartford. — Dangers of the passage. — His 
singular appearance when he met his friends. — His enter- 
prise compared to that of Mungo Park on the Niger. 



CHAPTER II. 

Ledyard's singular letter to President Wheelock. — Commences 
the study of theology. — His embarrassments on this occa- 
sion. — Visits several clergymen on Long Island, and pursues 
Ms studies there for a short time. — Proposes teaching a 
school. — Returns to Connecticut, and meets with disappoint- 
ment in his hopes of being settled as a clergyman. — Aban- 
dons his purpose of studying divinity. — Sails from New 
London on a voyage to Gibraltar. — Enlists there as a soldier 
in the regular service. — Released at the solicitation of the 
captain of the vessel in which he sailed. — Returns home 
by way of the Barbary Coast and the West Indies. — Re- 
solves to visit England, and seek for his wealthy family 
connexions in that country. — Sails from New York to 
Plymouth. — Travels thence to London in extreme poverty. 
— Realizes none of his expectations. — Enlists in the naval 
service. — Gains an acquaintance with Captain Cook, and 
embarks with him on his last voyage round the world, in the 
capacity of corporal of marines. . . . . . lt> 

A* 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

Ledyard's journal of his voyage with Captain Cook. — Testi- 
mony in his favor by Captain Burney. — Sails for the Cape 
of Good Hope. — Thence to Kerguelen's Islands and the 
south of New Holland. — Character of the people on Van 
Diemen's Land. — Present state of the colony there. — Ar- 
rives in New Zealand. — Account of the people, their man- 
ners and peculiarities. — Remarkable contrasts exhibited in 
their character. — Love adventure between an English sailor 
and a New Zealand girl. — Omai, the Otaheitan. — Vessels 
depart from New Zealand, and fall in with newly discover- 
ed islands. — Affecting story of three Otaheitans found on 
one of them. — Arrival at the Friendly Islands. — People of 
Tongataboo; — Their condition, mode of living, and amuse- 
ments. — Ledyard passes a night with the King. — Wrestling 
and other athletic exercises described. — Fireworks exhibited 
by Cook. — Propensity of the natives to thieving. — An in- 
stance in a chief called Feenou, and the extraordinary 
measures used to recover the stolen property. — Departure 
from Tongataboo. 35. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Society Islands. — Otaheite.— Ledyard's description of the lan- 
guage, customs, religion, laws, and government of the 
natives. — Their probable faith in the doctrine of transmi- 
gration. — Remarks on his mode of reasoning on this sub- 
ject. — His theory of the origin of customs and superstitions. 
— Notions of a Deity among the Otaheitans. — Conduct of 
Omai. — Difficulties attending the efforts to civilize savages. 
— Sandwich Islands discovered. — The vessels proceed to 
the American continent, and anchor in Nootka Sound. — 
Appearance and manners of the people. — Indian wampum. 
— .The abundance of furs.— Cannibalism. — Curious digres- 
sion on the origin and practice of sacrifices. — Captain 
Cook passes Bering's Strait, explores the northern ocean 
till stopped by the ice, and returns to the island of Ona- 
laska. — Sends Ledyard with two Indians in search of a 
Russian establishment on the coast. — His account of this 
adventure. — In what manner he was transported in a canoe. 
— Village of Russians and Indians. — Hot baths. — Their 
habitations and manner of living described. — Bering's ves- 
sel. — Ledyard returns to the ships, and reports to Captain 
Cook. — Expedition returns to the Sandwich Islands. 58 



CONTENTS. VU 



CHAPTER V. 



The ships anchored in Kearakekua bay. — 'First interview with 
the natives. — Reverence with which they regarded Cook. 
— Tents erected for astronomical observations. — Ceremo- 
nies at the meeting of Cook with the old king. — Ledyard 
forms the project of ascending the high mountain in Ha- 
waii, called by the natives Mouna JRoa. — Description of 
his ascent, and cause of his ultimate failure. — The natives 
begin to show symptoms of uneasiness at the presence of the 
strangers, and to treat them with disrespect. — Offended at 
the encroachment made on their Morai. — Cook departs 
from Kearakekua bay, but is compelled to return by a 
heavy storm, that overtakes him, and injures his ships. — 
Natives receive him coldly. — They steal one of the ship's 
boats, which Cook endeavours to recover. — Goes on shore 
for the purpose. — Is there attacked by the natives and 
slain. — Ledyard accompanied him on shore, and was near 
his person when killed. — His description of the event. — 
Expedition sails for Kamtschatka, explores again the Polar 
seas, and returns to England. — Ledyard's opinions respect- 
ing the first peopling of the South Sea Islands. — Other 
remarks relating to this subject, founded on the analogy 
of languages and manners of the people. — Characteristics 
of Ledyard's journal. — Estimation in which he held Captain 
Cook, , .87 



CHAPTER VI. 

Ledyard returns to America. — Interview with his mother after 
an absence of eight years. — Passes the winter in Hartford, 
and writes his Journal of Cook's Voyage. — Visits New 
York and Philadelphia to concert with the merchants a plan 
of a commercial expedition. — Robert Morris agrees to 
engage in a trading voyage, under his direction, to the 
Northwest Coast. — Proceeds to Boston, and afterwards to 
New London and New York, to procure a vessel for the 
purpose. — Failure of the enterprise, after a year had been 
spent in fruitless attempts to carry it into effect. — Letters 
to his mother. — Makes a trial in New London to enlist the 
merchants of that place in his scheme. — Was the first to 
propose a voyage for a mercantile adventure to the North- 
west Coast. — Sails for Cadiz. — Letters from that city con- 
taining political remarks. — Sails for L'Oiient. — Makes an 
agreement with a company of merchants there to aid him 
in such a voyage as he had proposed in America. — After 
eight months' preparation it is given up.— Goes to Paris. 121 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Meets with Mr. Jefferson at Paris. — Project of a voyage to 
the Northwest Coast with Paul Jones, for the purpose of 
establishing a trading factoiy there. — Proposes travelling 
across the continent from Nootka Sound to the United 
States. — Thinks of going to Africa with Mr Lamb. — Re- 
marks on Paris, and various objects that came under his 
notice.— The King at Versailles. — Mr Jefferson and Lafay- 
ette.— The Queen at St Cloud. — Application through Baron 
Grimm to the Empress of Russia, to obtain permission for 
him to travel across her dominions to Bering's Strait. — 
Colonel Humphreys. — Contemplates going to Petersburg, 
before the Empress' answer is received. — Curious anecdote 
of Sir James Hall. — Visit to the hospitals in Paris. — Tour 
in Normandy. — Proceeds to London, where he engages a 
passage on board a vessel just ready to sail for the North- 
west Coast. — Colonel Smith's letter to Mr Jay. — The voy- 
age defeated.— r-Resolves anew to go to Russia. — Sir Joseph 
Banks and other gentlemen contribute funds to aid him in 
his travels. . 147 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Ledyard proceeds to Hamburg. — Goes to Copenhagen, where 
he meets Major Langborn, another American traveller. — 
Endeavours to persuade Langborn to accompany him in his 
tour, but in vain. — Continues his route to Sweden, and is 
disappointed in not being able to cross the Gulf of Bothnia 
on the ice. — Journey round the Gulf into the Arctic Circle 
on foot, through Sweden, Lapland, and Finland. — Mauper- 
tuis's description of the cold at Tornea.— Arrives at Peters- 
burg, where he is befriended by Professor Pallas and others. 
— Procures a passport from the Empress, through the agency 
of Count Segur, the French ambassador. — Sets out for 
Siberia, and travels by way of Moscow to Kazan, a town 
on the river Wolga. — Crosses the Uralian Mountains. — 
Some account of the city of Tobolsk. — Proceeds to Bar- 
naoul and Tomsk. — Descriptions of the country and the 
inhabitants. — Character and condition of the exiles at 
Tomsk. — Fossil Bones. — Curious mounds and tombs of the 
ancient natives. — Arrives at Irkutsk. . . . .171 



CHAPTER IX. 

Residence at Irkutsk. — Miscellaneous remarks on the inhab- 
itants, and the productions of the country. — Accounts of 
the Tartars. — Unsuccessful attempts to civilize them. — Fur 



CONTENTS. IX 

s 

trade on the American coast. — Visit to the Lake Baikal. — 
Further remarks on the character and manners of the Kal- 
muks and other Tartars. — Leaves Irkutsk for the river Lena. 
— Scenery around the Baikal. — Rivers flowing into it. — 
Extraordinary depth of its waters. — They are fresh, but 
s contain seals, and fish, peculiar to the ocean. — Estimate 
of the number of rivers in Siberia, and of the quantity of 
water they pour into the Frozen Ocean. — Ledyard proceeds 
down the Lena in a bateau. — Romantic scenery along the 
margin of the river. — Hospitality of the inhabitants. — Ends 
his voyage at Yakutsk 199 

CHAPTER X. 

Interview with the Commandant of Yakutsk. — Stopped at this 
place on account of the advanced state of the season. — His 
severe disappointment at this event. — Detained under false 
pretences. — Takes up his residence in Yakutsk for the 
winter. — Elephants' bones on the banks of the L en a, and in 
other parts of the country. — General remarks on the various 
tribes of Tartars in Siberia. — Characteristics of savages in 
cold and warm climates. — Kalmuks have two modes of 
writing. — Their manner of living. — The Yakuti Tartars. — 
Influence of religion upon them. — The love of freedom 
common to all the Tartars. — Their dwellings. — intermar- 
riages between the Russians and Tartars. — In what degree 
the color of descendants is affected by such intermarriages. 
— Peculiarities of features in the Tartar countenance. — 
Form and use of the Tartar pipe. — Dress. — Difficulty of 
taking vocabularies of unknown languages. — Marriage cere- 
monies. — Notions of theology. — Practice cf scalping. — 
Wampum. — Classification of the Tartars and North Ameri- 
can Indians. — Language a criterion forjudging of the affinity 
between the different races of men. — Causes of the differ- 
ence of color in the human race. — Tartars and American 
Indians the same people. . . . . 217 



CHAPTER XL 

Climate in Siberia. — Extreme cold. — Congelation of quicksil- 
ver. — Images in Russian houses. — Attention paid to dogs. — 
Ice windows. — Jealousy of the Russians. — Moral condition 
of the Russians in Siberia. — Ledyard's celebrated eulogy on 
women. — Captain Billings meets him at Yakutsk, on his 
return from the Frozen Ocean. — Bering's discovery of the 
strait called after his name — Russian voyages of discovery. 
— Bering's death. — Russian fur trade. — Billings's expedi- 



CONTENTS. 



tion. — His incompetency to the undertaking. — His instruc- 
tions nearly the same as those drawn up by Peter the Great 
for Bering. — Some of their principal features enumerated. 245 



CHAPTER XII. 

Ledyard departs from Yakutsk, and returns to Irkutsk up the 
Lena on the ice. — Is seized by order of the Empress, and 
hurried off in the charge of two guards. — Returns through 
Siberia to Kazan. His remarks on the peculiarity of his fate. 
— Further observations on the Tartars. — No good account 
of them has ever been written. — Passes Moscow and ar- 
rives in Poland. — Left by his guards, with an injunction 
never to appear again in Russia. — Health much impaired 
by his sufferings. — Proceeds to Konigsberg, and thence 
to London. — Inquiry into the motives of the Empress for 
her cruel treatment of him. — Her pretences of humanity 
not to be credited. — Her declaration to Count Segur on the 
subject. — Dr Clarke's explanation incorrect. — The true 
cause was the jealousy of the Russian American Fur Com- 
pany, by whose influence his recall was procured from the 
Empress. — Lafayette's remark on her conduct in this par- 
ticular 261 



CHAPTER XIIL 

Interview with Sir Joseph Banks in London. — Engages to 
travel in Africa under the auspices of the African Associ- 
ation. — Remarkable instance of decision of character. — 
Letter to Dr Ledyard, containing miscellaneous particulars 
respecting his travels and circumstances. — Description of 
his Siberian dresses. — Origin and purposes of the African 
Association. — Ancient and present state of Africa. — Bene- 
fits of discoveries in that continent. — Letter from Ledyard 
to his mother. — His remarks to Mr Beaufoy on his depar- 
ture for Egypt. — Visits Mr Jefferson and Lafayette in Paris. 
— Sails from Marseilles to Alexandria in Egypt. — Descrip- 
tion of Alexandria, in a letter to Mr Jefferson. — Arrives in 
Cairo. — Description of the city, and of his passage up the 
Nile 276 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Remarks on the appearance of the countiy in passing up the 
Nile. — Condition of a Christian at Cairo. — Interview with 
the Aga. — Miscellaneous observations on the customs of 



CONTENTS. XI 

the Arabs, and other races of people found in Cairo. — In- 
formation respecting the interior of Africa. — Visit to the 
caravans and slave markets. — The traveller's reflections on 
his condition and prospects. — His last letter to Mr Jeffer- 
son. — Joins a caravan and prepares to, depart for Sennaar. — 
He is taken suddenly ill. — His death. — Account of his per- 
son and character. . 294 






THE 

LIFE AND TRAVELS 

OF 

JOHN LEDYARD. 



CHAPTER I. 



Birth and parentage.— Early education. — Begins the study of the 
l aw . — Enters Dartmouth College with a view to qualify himself 
to he a missionary among the Indians. — State of the Indian 
missions at that time. — His fondness for theatrical exhibitions 
while at College. — Travels among the Indians of the Six Na- 
tions. — His return to College, and adventure in visiting a moun- 
tain. Constructs a canoe at Dartmouth College with his own 
hands, and descends the Connecticut river in it alone to Hart- 
ford. — Dangers of the passage. — His singular appearance when 
he met his friends. — His enterprise compared to that of Mungo 
Park on the Niger. 

John Ledyard, the celebrated traveller, was 
born in the year 1751, at Groton, in Connecticut, a 
small village on the bank of the river Thames, op- 
posite to New London. The place of his birth is 
but a few hundred yards from Fort Griswold, so 
well known in the history of the American revolu- 
tion. 

His grandfather, named also John Ledyard, came 
in early life to America, and settled at Southold, 
Long Island, as a small trader in dry goods. He 
was a native of Bristol, England, and had been bred 
a merchant in London. Being prosperous in busi- 
ness at Southold, he was soon married to a lady of 
1 



2 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

amiable qualities and good fortune, the daughter of 
Judge Young, a gentleman of character and influ- 
ence in that place. From Southold he removed to 
Groton, where he purchased an estate, and resided 
many years. He had ten children, and after the 
death of his wife he removed to Hartford, in Con- 
necticut, and there spent the remainder of his life. 
For his second wife he married Mrs Ellery, a re- 
spectable widow lady of Boston. 

To his eldest son, who had the same name as 
himself, he gave the estate at Groton. He was a 
sea captain, engaged in the West India trade, a man 
of sound understanding, vigorous constitution, and 
industrious habits. But he died at the age of thirty- 
five, leaving a widow and four children, three sons 
and one daughter, of whom the subject of this me- 
moir was the eldest. Colonel William Ledyard, the 
brave commander in the memorable action of Fort 
Griswold, who was slain after the capitulation, was 
the second son. 

It thus appears, that John Ledyard, the traveller, 
was the third of that name in lineal descent. His 
mother, who was the daughter of Robert Hempsted 
of Southold, has been described as a lady of many 
excellencies of mind and character, beautiful in per- 
son, well informed, resolute, generous, amiable, kind, 
and above all eminent for piety and the religious 
virtues. Such a mother is the best gift of Heaven 
to a family of helpless young children. In the pres- 
ent instance all her courage and all her strength of 
character were necessary, to carry her through the 
duties and trials, which devolved upon her. The 
small estate, which had belonged to her husband in 
Groton, was, by some strange neglect of her friends, 
or criminal fraud never yet explained, taken from 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 3 

her soon after his death. During a visit to Long 
Island, the deed, which she had left with a confi- 
dential person, disappeared. As this deed was the 
only evidence of her title to the property, and her 
claim could not he substantiated without it, the whole 
reverted to its former owner, her husband's father, 
who was still living. The particulars of this trans- 
action are not now known, nor is it necessary to 
inquire into them. It is enough to state the fact, that 
such an event occurred, -and that the widowed 
mother with four infant children was thus thrown 
destitute upon the world. In this condition she and 
her children repaired to the house of her father in 
Southold, where they found protection and support. 
The estate at Groton afterwards fell into the hands 
of Colonel William Ledyard. 

It may be supposed, that misfortune did not weak- 
en her parental solicitude, nor make her neglectful 
of her high trust. The education of her children 
was the absorbing object of her thoughts and exer- 
tions. Her eldest son was now of an age to receive 
impressions, that would become deeply wrought into 
his mind, and give a decided bias to his future char- 
acter. In the marked features of his eventful life, 
eccentric and extraordinary as it was, full of temp- 
tations, crosses, and sufferings, may often be traced 
lineaments of virtues, and good impulses, justly re- 
ferred to such a source, to the early cares and coun- 
sels of a judicious, sensible, and pious mother. Nor 
were these counsels scattered in a vacant mind, nor 
these cares wasted on a cold heart ; in his severest 
disappointments and privations, in whatever clime or 
among whatever people, whether contending with the 
fierce snows of Siberia, or the burning sands of 
Africa, the image of his mother always came with a 



4 LIFE ,0F JOHN LEDYARD. 

beam of joy to his soul, and was cherished there 
with delight. Such of his letters to her, as have 
been preserved, are written with a tenderness of 
filial affection, that could flow only from an acute 
sensibility and a good heart. 

A few years after leaving Groton, and settling at 
Southold, Mrs Ledyard was married to a second 
husband, Dr Moore of the latter place. At this 
time her son John was taken into the family of his 
grandfather at Hartford, who, from that period, 
seems to have considered him as wholly under his 
charge. Tradition tells of peculiarities in his man- 
ners and habits at this early age, of acts indicating 
the bent of his genius, and the romantic disposition, 
that gave celebrity to his after life. But no record 
of his schoolboy adventures has come down to us, 
and we are left to conjecture in what manner the 
wild spirits of a youth like his would exhibit them- 
selves. He attended the grammar school in Hart- 
ford, it is to be presumed, with commendable 
proficiency, since he was at first designed for the 
profession of the law. Several months were passed 
by him as a student in the office of Mr Thomas 
Seymour, a respectable lawyer of that place, who 
had married his aunt. Meantime his grandfather 
died, and Mr Seymour became his guardian, and 
took him to his own house. Whether Ledyard 
turned his thoughts to the law by his voluntary 
choice, or by the advice and wishes of his friends, 
who desired to quiet his temper, by fixing him in 
some settled pursuit, is not related ; most probably 
the latter, for it was soon manifest, that neither the 
profound wisdom, the abstruse learning, nor the 
golden promises of the law, had any charms for him. 
It was decided without reluctance on his part, there- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 5 

fore, that he should leave the path, which he had 
found so intricate, and in which he had made so 
little progress, and enter upon one more congenial 
to his inclination, and presenting objects more at- 
tractive to his taste and fancy- 
Here was a difficult point to be determined. The 
pursuit, which would accord best with the propensi- 
ties, temperament, and wishes of John Ledyard, and 
best promote his future usefulness and success, was 
a thing not to be decided, even at that time of his 
life, by the common rules of judging in such cases; 
it was a preliminary, which no one probably would 
have been more perplexed than himself to establish- 
Never was he accustomed to look forward with un- 
wavering predilections, to prepare for contingencies, 
or to mark out a course from which he would not 
stray. To be seeking some distant object, imposing 
and attractive in his own conceptions, and to move 
towards it on the tide of circumstances, through 
perils and difficulties, were among the chief pleasures 
of his existence. On enterprises, in which no ob- 
stacles were to be encountered, no chances to be 
run, no disappointments to be apprehended, no re- 
wards of hazardous adventure to be looked for, he 
bestowed not a thought ; but let a project be started, 
thickly beset with dangers, and promising success 
only through toils and sufferings, deeds of courage, 
and the resolute efforts of an untiring spirit, and not 
a man would grasp at it so eagerly, or pursue it with 
so much intenseness of purpose. The wholesome 
maxim of providing for the morrow rarely found a 
place in his ethics or his practice ; and as he never 
allowed himself to anticipate misfortunes, so he 
never took any pains to guard against them. 

He was now at the age of nineteen, with very 
1* 



6 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYAK0. 

narrow means, few friends, and no definite prospects. 
In this state of his affairs, as it was necessary for 
something to be done, he was compelled to look 
around him, and for a moment to exercise that fore- 
sight, which the tenor of his life proves him to have 
been so reluctant on most occasions to call to his aid. 
And, after all, he was more indebted to accident, 
than to his own deliberations, for the immediate 
events, that awaited him. Dr Wheelock, the amia- 
ble and pious founder of Dartmouth College, had 
been the intimate friend of his grandfather, and 
prompted by the remembrance of this tie, he invited 
Ledyard to enter his institution, recently established 
at Hanover, New Hampshire, amidst the forests on 
the banks of the Connecticut river. This offer was 
accepted, and in the spring of 1772, he took up his 
residence at this new seat of learning, with the ap- 
parent intention of qualifying himself to become a 
missionary among the Indians. 

His mother's wishes and advice had probably much 
influence in guiding him to this resolution. In ac- 
cordance with the religious spirit of that day, she 
felt a strong compassion for the deplorable state of 
the Indians, and it was among her earliest and fond- 
est hopes of this her favorite son, that he would be 
educated as a missionary, and become an approved 
instrument in the hands of Providence to bring these 
degraded and suffering heathen to the knowledge of a 
pure religion, and the blessings of civilized life. 
When she saw this door opened for the realizing of 
her hopes, and her son placed under the charge of 
the most eminent laborer of his clay in the cause of 
the Indians, her joy was complete. 

From the first settlement of the country, much 
zeal and much disinterested philanthropy have been 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYAED. 7 

exercised, in attempts to convert the Indians to 
Christianity, and induce them to adopt the manners 
and participate the comforts of civilized men. Eliot 
(rightly named the Apostle of the Indians), and the 
Mayhews, are entitled to the praises, which succeed- 
ing times have bestowed upon them ; and the efforts 
of the Society in Great Britain for propagating the 
Gospel in foreign parts, were prompted by motives 
of the noblest kind, and were bestowed with an 
ardor and with sacrifices, that demand a generous 
tribute from the pen of history, and the grateful re- 
membrance of posterity. For many years little had 
been done, however, till the popular talents and fer- 
vent zeal of David Brainerd caused the journals of 
his missionary tours to be read throughout the coun- 
try, his labors applauded, and his success regarded 
as an evidence of the great work, that, might be 
wrought by the use of proper means. 

About this time the Reverend Eleazer Wheelock, 
who was then a settled clergyman in Lebanon, Con- 
necticut, formed the scheme of an Indian School, 
which should have the double object of preparing 
young preachers for the missionary field, and of 
educating Indian youth, who should return to their 
tribes, and become teachers among their own people. 
Without show or ostentation Dr Wheelock com- 
menced the school at his own house, and almost at 
his own charge. He began with two pupils, one of 
whom was Sampson Occum, an Indian of the Mo- 
hegan tribe, afterwards so much celebrated as a 
preacher, and for his instructions to the Indians. 
The school gradually increased, and so benevolent 
an undertaking, pursued with such singleness of 
purpose, could not fail to attract public notice and 
approbation. He was aided by contributions from 



g LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

individuals, and the province of Massachusetts voted 
to pay, for a certain time, the expense of educating 
six Indian children. Mr Joshua Moor, who owned 
lands in Lebanon, gave a portion of them for the 
benefit of this school, and from this circumstance, 
the seminary for the education of Indian boys, after- 
wards attached to Dartmouth College, was called. 
Moor's Indian School. 

But Dr Wheelock still found, that pupils from the 
forest flocked- to him faster, than he could provide 
for them. He thought it now time to adopt the ex- 
pedient of sending to England, and soliciting assist- 
ance from the wealthy and charitable on the other 
side of the water. For this object Sampson Occum, 
and another clergyman, were sent out as agents, 
furnished with testimonials of their character, and 
certificates of approbation from eminent persons in 
the colonies. Occum was looked upon as a wonder 
in England. He was the first Indian preacher from 
North America, that ever had been seen in the Old 
World ; wherever he went, crowds gathered around 
him, and it has been the lot of few speakers to ad- 
dress audiences so thronged. A North American 
Indian in a pulpit, eloquently preaching in the Eng- 
lish tongue, was a phenomenon too nearly miraculous 
to pass unseen or unheard. It was said, moreover, 
that he exhibited in his person and character, a 
practical example of what might be done with In- 
dians, when fairly brought under the influence of 
instruction. All this was highly favorable to the 
great ends of the mission, and in a few months a 
subscription was obtained, and money paid to the 
amount of nearly ten thousand pounds. The king 
gave two hundred pounds, and several gentlemen 
one hundred each. The money was deposited in 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 9 

the hands of trustees in England, and drawn out as 
occasion required.. With this addition to his resour- 
ces, Dr Wheelock began to think of enlarging the 
plan of his school, and removing nearer to the fron- 
tiers, both to diminish the expense of living, and to 
be nearer the Indians. After examining several 
situations, he selected Hanover, then almost a 
wilderness, to which place he removed in 1770, cut 
away the trees, and erected the institution^ which he 
called Dartmouth College, in honor of Lord Dart- 
mouth, who had manifested zeal and liberality in 
collecting the Indian fund in England. 

To this college, about two years after it was found- 
ed, Ledyard resorted to prepare himself for the 
arduous office of a missionary among the Indians. 
The nature of a missionary's life at that time, and 
the prospects of the young candidate for such a 
station, may be fully realized by a perusal of the 
letters from the Reverend Samuel Kirkland to Dr 
Wheelock, written previously to the removal from 
Lebanon. Mr Kirkland was a graduate of Nassau 
Hall, in New Jersey, and when qualified for the 
ministry, he undertook a mission to the Seneca 
Indians, the most remote and fierce of the confede- 
rate nations. He continued there more than a year 
and a half, and gained the confidence of some of 
the chief persons of the tribe ; but so general was 
the aversion to the whites, and to the arts of civiliz- 
ed life, that after a thorough experiment, he des- 
paired of any such success as would be adequate to 
the sacrifices he must make, and the sufferings 
he must endure. Leaving the Senecas, therefore, 
he next proceeded to the Oneidas, with whom he 
took up a permanent residence. Here poverty, 
and famine, and wretchedness stared him in the 



10 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

face.* Nor were. these the worst evils, with which 
he was obliged to contend. The capricious temper 
and furious passions of the savages, especially when 
intoxicated, frequently put his life in jeopardy, and 
kept him in a state of unceasing alarm. All these 
things were endured by Mr Kirkland with a christian 
fortitude, which nothing but a deep sense of the 
sacred nature of his duties could have enabled him 
to maintain. He triumphed at last ; he lived many 
years with the Oneidas, and had the satisfaction to 
see, that his toils were not fruitless. The Indians 



* During the first year of his sojourning with this tribe (1767), 
he wrote to Dr Wheelock as follows. 

" I arri distressed to know what to do ; the present poverty of 
these people cries aloud for the charity of God's people ; two 
years ago their com was cut off by the frost, last year destroyed 
by the vermin, and worms threaten the destruction of one half of 
the present crop. Many of them for a month past have eat but 
once a day, and yet continue to work. From week to week I am 
obliged to go eeling with the Indians at Oneida Lake for my sub- 
sistence. I have feasted and starved with them, as their luck de- 
pends on wind and weather. If it should be asked, why they do 
not support me, the answer is ready, They cannot support them- 
selves. They are now half starved. Some of them have no more 
than two quarts of corn. I fear my appearing in such a servile, 
beggarly manner will very much disserve the design in view ; but 
I must desist, must go down to the lake for eels this day, and re- 
turn tomorrow to hill my corn and potatoes." 

Again a few weeks afterwards he wrote, " Through the tender 
mercies of God, I enjoy some degree of health, amidst all my 
troubles and distresses, though my strength begins to fail. I cannot 
subsist long without relief. I have ate no flesh in my own house for 
near eight weeks. Flour and milk, with a few eels, have been my 
living. Such diet, with my hard labor abroad, doth not satisfy 
nature. My poor people are almost starved to death. I am griev- 
ed to the heart for them. There is one family, consisting of four, 
I must support after my fashion, till squashes come on, or they 
must perish. They have had nothing this ten days, but what I 
have given them. They have only each an old blanket not worth 
sixpence, wherewith to buy anything ; and begging here at this 
season would be a very poor business. I would myself be glad of 
the opportunity to fall on my knees for such a bone as 1 have often 
seen cast to the dogs," 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 1 1 

revered him as a father ; they had the wisdom to 
respect and sometimes to follow his counsels ; a visi- 
ble change took place in their character and modes 
of life ; the rough features of the savage were soft- 
ened, famine and want chased away, and the 
comforts of life multiplied. These advantages the 
sons of the forest saw and felt. No man has ever 
been more successful than Mr Kirkland in improving 
the condition of the Indians, and to the last day of 
his life, he continued to receive from them earnest 
demonstrations of affection and gratitude.* 

To this brief sketch it is hardly necessary to add, 
that when the revolutionary war came on, a check 
was given to the designs of the benevolent in behalf 
of the Indians. They engaged in the strife, which 
had been kindled by their white neighbors, and the 
voice of the missionary was silenced by the war 
whoop, and the din of battle. Many of Dr Wheel- 
ock's Indian pupils, having gone through a regular 
course of instruction, had returned to their homes, 
and were beginning to diffuse the light they had re- 
ceived ; but their influence was lost amidst the rav- 
ages of war. Much was it to be lamented, that the 
agency of a school, to which Dr Wheelock had de- 
voted the years of a long and toilsome life, and 
which had awakened a lively interest in the friends 
of humanity, should be so soon brought to an end, 
and nothing be seen in the result but a melancholy 
waste of time, talents, and money. 



*In speaking of this subject, the name of John Thornton should 
not be forgotten. He was a wealthy English gentleman, who 
was active in procuring donations to the Indian fund, and himself 
a large contributor; he gave Sampson Occum a pension of one 
hundred dollars a year, sent private aid to Dr Wheelock and Mr 
Kirkland, wrote them frequent letters of encouragement, and was 
never weary, either by personal exertions or charitable gifts, of 
promoting the cause of Indian Missions. 



12 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

Such was the condition of a missionary among 
the Indians, and such the origin and purpose of the 
Institution, to which Ledyard resorted for an educa- 
tion, which should qualify him to enter upon his 
destined task. Not many memorials remain of his 
college life. The whole time of his residence at 
Dartmouth was not more than one year, and during 
that period he was absent three months and a half, 
rambling among the Indians. A classmate still living 
recollects, that he had then some amusing singulari- 
ties, was cheerful and gay in conversation, winning 
in his address, and a favorite with his fellow students. 
His journey from Hartford to Hanover was perform- 
ed in a sulkey, the first vehicle of the kind, that 
had ever been seen on Dartmouth plain ; and it at- 
tracted curiosity not more from this circumstance, 
than from the odd appearance of the equipage. 
Both the horse and the sulkey gave evident tokens 
of having known better days ; and the dress of their 
owner was peculiar, bidding equal defiance to sym- 
metry of proportions and the fashion of the times. 
In addition to the traveller's own weight, this ancient 
vehicle was burdened with a quantity of calico for 
curtains, and other articles to assist in theatrical 
exhibitions, of which he was very fond. From the 
character of this outfit we may conclude, that he 
did not intend time should pass on heavy wings at 
Dartmouth. Considering the newness of the coun- 
try, the want of bridges, and the bad state of the 
roadsf this jaunt in a crazy sulkey was thought to in- 
dicate no feeble spirit of enterprise. The journey 
might have been performed with much more ease 
and expedition on horseback, but in that case his 
theatrical apparatus must have been left behind. 

As a scholar at college he was respectable, but 



LIFE OF JOHNLEDYARD. 13 

not over-diligent ; he acquired knowledge with fa- 
cility, and could make quick progress, when he 
chose, but he was impatient under discipline, and 
thought nothing more irksome, than to go by com- 
pulsion to a certain place at certain times, and tread 
from day to day the same dull circle of the chapel, 
the recitation room, the commons hall, and the study. 
It is not affirmed, that he ever ventured to set up 
any direct hostility to the powers that ruled, but he 
sometimes demeaned himself in a manner, that must 
take from him the praise of a shining example of 
willing subordination. In those primitive times the 
tones of a bell had not been heard in the forests of 
Dartmouth, and the students were called together 
by the sound of a conch-shell, which was blown in 
turn by the freshmen. Ledyard was indignant at 
being summoned to this duty, and it was his custom 
to perform it with a reluctance and in a manner 
corresponding to his sense of the degradation. 

The scenic materials, brought with so much pains 
from Hartford, were not suffered to lie useless. The 
calico was manufactured into curtains, a stage was 
fitted up, and plays were acted, in which our hero 
personated the chief characters. Cato was among 
the tragedies brought out upon his boards, and in 
this he acted the part of old Syphax, wearing a long 
grey beard, and a dress suited to his notion of the 
costume of a Numidian prince. His tragedies were 
doubtless comedies to the audience, but they all 
answered his purpose of amusement, and of intro- 
ducing a little variety into the sober tenor of a stu- 
dent's life. At this period he was much addicted 
to reading plays, and his passion for the drama 
probably stole away many hours, that might have 
2 



14 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

been more profitably employed in preparing to ex- 
hibit himself before his tutors. 

He had not been quite four months in college, 
when he suddenly disappeared without previous no- 
tice to his comrades, and apparently without permis- 
sion from the president. The full extent of his 
travels during his absence] cannot now be known, 
but he is understood to have wandered to the borders 
of Canada, and among the Six Nations. It is cer- 
tain, that he acquired in this excursion a knowledge 
of Indian manners and Indian language, which was 
afterwards of essential service to him in his inter- 
course with savages in various parts of the world. 
His main object probably was to take a cursory sur- 
vey of the missionary ground, which he was con- 
templating as the theatre of his future career ; and, 
judging from what followed, we may suppose that 
this foretaste put an end to all his anticipations. 
Nothing more is heard of his missionary projects, 
although it is not clear at what time he absolutely 
abandoned them. When three months and a half 
had expired, he returned to college and resumed his 
studies. 

If his dramatic performances were not revived, as 
it would seem they were not, his erratic spirit did 
not sink into a lethargy for want of expedients to 
keep it alive. In midwinter, when the ground was 
covered with deep snow, Ledyard collected a party 
whom he persuaded to accompany him to the sum- 
mit of a neighbouring mountain, and there pass the 
night. Dr Wheelock consented to the project, as 
his heart was bent on training up the young men to 
be missionaries among the Indians, and he was 
willing they should become inured to hardships, to 
which a life among savages would frequently expose 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 15 

them. The prejector of the expedition took the 
lead of his volunteers, and conducted them by a 
pathless route though the thickets of a swamp and 
forests, till they reached the top of the mountain, 
just in time to kindle a fire, and arrange their en- 
campment on the snow, before it was dark. The 
night, as may be supposed, was dreary and sleepless 
. to most of the party, and few were they who did 
not greet the dawn with gladness. Their leader 
was alert, prompt at his duty, and pleased with his 
success. The next day they returned home, all 
perfectly satisfied, except perhaps Ledyard, with this 
single experiment of their hardihood, without being 
disposed to make another similar trial. He had a 
propensity for climbing mountains, as will be seen 
hereafter, when we meet him at the Sandwich 
Islands. 

After abandoning his missionary schemes he be- 
gan to grow weary of college, and the more so, 
probably, as his unsettled habits now and then drew 
from the president a salutary admonition on the im- 
portance of a right use of time, and a regard for the 
regulations of the establishment. Such hints he 
conceived to be an indignity, and fancied himself ill 
treated. That there was value in rules of order and 
discipline he did not pretend to deny, but seemed 
at a loss to imagine why they should be applied to him. 
That the whole subject might be put at rest, without 
involving any puzzling questions of casuistry, he re- 
solved to escape. 

On the margin of the Connecticut river, which 
runs near the college, stood many majestic forest 
trees, nourished by a rich soil. One of these Led- 
yard contrived to cut down. He then set himself 
at work to fashion its trunk into a canoe, and in this 



16 LIFE OF JOHN LED YARD. 

labor he was assisted by some of his fellow students. 
As the canoe was fifty feet long and three feet wide, 
and was to be dug out and constructed by these un- 
skilful workmen, the task was not a trifling one, nor 
such as could be speedily executed. Operations 
were carried on with spirit, however, till Ledyard 
wounded himself with an axe, and was disabled for 
several days. When recovered, he applied himself 
anew to his work ; the canoe was finished, launched 
into the stream, and, by the further aid of his com- 
panions, equipped and prepared for a voyage. His 
wishes were now at their consummation, and, bid- 
ding adieu to these haunts of the Muses, where he 
had gained a dubious fame, he set off alone with a 
light heart to explore a river, with the navigation of 
which he had not the slightest acquaintance. The 
distance to Hartford was not less than one hundred 
and forty miles, much of the way was through a 
wilderness, and in several places there were danger- 
ous falls and rapids. 

With a bearskin for a covering, and his canoe 
well stocked with provisions, he yielded himself to 
the current, and floated leisurely down the stream, 
seldom using his paddle, and stopping only in the 
night for sleep. He told Mr Jefferson in Paris, 
fourteen years afterwards, that he took only two 
books with him, a Greek Testament and Ovid, one 
of which he was deeply engaged in reading when 
his canoe approached Bellows Falls, where he 
was suddenly roused by the noise of the waters 
rushing among the rocks through the narrow passage. 
The danger was imminent, as no boat could go down 
that fall without being instantly dashed in pieces. 
With difficulty he gained the shore in time to es- 
cape such a catastrophe, and through the kind as- 



i 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 17 

sistance of the people in the neighbourhood, who 
were astonished at the novelty of such a voyage 
down the Connecticut, his canoe was drawn by ox- 
en around the fall, and committed again to the water 
below. From that time, till he arrived at his place 
of destination, we hear of no accident, although he 
was carried through several dangerous passes in the 
river. On a bright spring morning, just as the sun 
was rising, some of Mr Seymour's family were 
standing near his house on the high bank of the 
small river, that runs through the city of Hartford, 
and empties itself into the Connecticut river, when 
they espied at some distance an object of unusual 
appearance moving slowly up the stream. Others 
were attracted by the singularity of the sight, and 
all were conjecturing what it could be, till its ques- 
tionable shape assumed the true and obvious form 
of a canoe ; but by what impulse it was moved for- 
ward none could determine. Something was seen 
in the stern, but apparently without life or motion. 
At length the canoe touched the shore directly in 
front of the house ; a person sprang from the stern 
to a rock in the edge of the water, threw off a bear- 
skin in which he had been enveloped, and behold 
John Ledyard, in the presence of his uncle and 
connexions, who were filled with wonder at this sud- 
den apparition, for they had received no intelligence 
of his intention to leave Dartmouth, but supposed 
him still there diligently pursuing his studies, and 
fitting himself to be a missionary among the Indians. 
However unimportant this whimsical adventure 
may have been in its results, or even its objects, it was 
one of no ordinary peril, and illustrated in a forcible 
manner the character of the navigator. The voyage 
was performed in the last part of April or first of 
2* 



18 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

May, and of course the river was raised by the re- 
cent melting of the snow on the mountains. This 
circumstance probably rendered the rapids less dan- 
gerous ; but it may be questioned whether there are 
many persons at the present day, who would wil- 
lingly run the same hazard, even if guided by a pilot 
skilled in the navigation of the river. 

We cannot look back to Ledyard, thus launching 
himself alone in so frail a bark upon the waters of a 
river wholly unknown to him, without being remind- 
ed of the only similar occurrence, which has been 
recorded, the voyage down the river Niger by Mun- 
go Park, a name standing at the very head of those 
most renowned for romantic and lofty enterprise. 
The melancholy fate, it is true, by which he was 
soon arrested in his noble career, adds greatly to the 
interest of his situation when pushing from the shore 
his little boat Joliba, and causes us to read his last 
affecting letter to his wife with emotions of sympathy 
more intense, if possible, than would be felt if the 
tragical issue were not already known. In many 
points of character there was a strong resemblance 
between these two distinguished travellers, and they 
both perished martyrs in the same cause, attempting 
to explore the hidden regions of Africa. 






LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 19 



CHAPTER H. 

Ledyard's singular letter to President Wheelock — Commences the 
study of theology. — His embarrassments on this occasion. — 
Visits several clergymen on Long Island, and pursues his studies 
there for a short time. — Proposes teaching a school. — Returns 
to Connecticut, and meets with disappointment in his hopes of 
being settled as a clergyman. — Abandons his purpose of study- 
ing divinity. — Sails from New London on a voyage to Gibraltar. 
— Enlists there as a soldier in the regular service. — Released 
at the solicitation of the captain of the vessel in which he sail- 
ed. — Returns home by way of the Barbary Coast and the West 
Indies. — Resolves to visit England, and seek for his wealthy 
family connexions in that country. — Sails from New York to 
Plymouth. — Travels thence to London in extreme poverty. — 
Realizes none of his expectations. — Enlists in the naval service. 
— Gains an acquaintance with Captain Cook, and embarks with 
him on his last voyage round the world, in the capacity of cor- 
poral of marines. 

As Ledyard left Hanover when Dr Wheelock was 
absent, this was probably seized upon by him as a 
fit opportunity for taking his departure. A few days 
after his arrival in Hartford, his uncle thought prop- 
er to show him some of Dr Wheelock's letters, in 
which were very just complaints of his conduct, his 
disregard of discipline, and particularly his thought- 
less waste of the small means he possessed, which 
his friends flattered themselves might, with good 
economy, be made to pay the expenses of his edu- 
cation. These letters of the president were appa- 
rently written not so much by way of accusation, as to 
vindicate himself from any charge of neglect that 
might be made against him, on account of the ill 
success of his efforts to manage a young man, whom 
he had no other motive for taking under his partic- 
ular care, than good will for the grandson of his de- 
ceased friend, and regard for his family. Ledyard 
was much incensed at these letters, and replied to 



20 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

them under the impulse of feelings not the most 
kindly or respectful. From his nature he was ex- 
tremely impatient of reproach, and ever deemed 
it an unpardonable offence in any one to question 
his motives, or insinuate that he could act deliber- 
ately and intentionally wrong. His foibles he could 
bear to have touched with a gentle hand, but no one 
ventured a suspicion of his integrity, or of the kind- 
ness of his heart, with impunity. He often lamented 
the failure of purposses caused by his fondness for 
change and love of adventure ; but at no time did 
he allow himself to think, that he was not pursuing 
great and worthy objects, and such as would re- 
dound to his honor, and the good of mankind. 
With this disposition, and this confidence in himself, 
it was natural that he should sometimes regard the 
opinions which others entertained of his conduct, with 
stronger feelings of disapprobation, than the merits of 
the case required. In reading the following extracts 
from a letter to Dr Wheelock, these particulars should 
be kept in mind ; and it should moreover be remem- 
bered, that, whether right or wrong, he really fan- 
cied himself not well treated at Dartmouth. 

" When I sit down to write," says he, " I know 
not where to begin, or where to end, or what to say, 
especially since I have the contents of two of your 
letters concerning my affairs. What do I see ? 
Who is this that assumes the port of compassion, 
kindness, benevolence, charity, and writes as he 
writes ? You begin, sir, with a surprise, that my 
legacy was so much exhausted. Justly might you, 
sir, but not more so than my unfortunate self; and if 
truth has not turned liar, if any protestations, any 
declarations of honesty, uprightness, or any thing else 
can avail, I now, under the most sacred obligations, 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 21 

bona fide declare I was not aware of it; and when 
I saw the letters and account, I was so much ashamed 
of my inadvertency, and so justly culpable before 
you, that I could not compose myself to come before 
you, and answer for my misconduct. But from 
that moment, with much anxiety and care, I studied 
to remedy the matter. This I declare was the hon- 
est purpose of my heart ; and to make you repara- 
tion still is ; and, under Heaven, you shall say you 
are satisfied. Then, sir, you say, a little after, that 
you could have no confidence in me, after the char- 
acter given of me by Mr Seymour. I am sorry, sir, 
you could not. 

" I take what you have said, in regard to my 
pride, very ill-natured, very unkind in you. So far 
as I know myself, I came to your college under in- 
fluences of the good kind, whether you, sir, believe 
it or not. The acquaintance I have gained there is 
dearer than I can possibly express. Farewell, dear 
Dartmouth. Doctor, my heart is as pure as the 
new fallen snow. Farewell, and may the God of 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, bless you and yours.. 
I am, honored and reverend sir, though sorely beset, 
your obliged and dutiful young servant." 

Here end all the particulars, which have come to 
my knowledge, respecting Ledyard's college life. 
He next appears before us in the character of a stu- 
dent in divinity. Within a month after mooring his 
canoe at the river's bank in Hartford, he is found at 
Preston, in Connecticut, advising with the reverend 
Mr Hart, a clergyman of that town, on the subject 
of his theological studies and prospects, and also 
with the reverend Dr Bellamy, at that time a preach- 
er of wide fame in Connecticut. Both of these 
clergymen gave him such encouragement, that he 



22 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

resolved to apply himself immediately to a prepara- 
tion for discharging the sacred functions of a divine, 
and turn the ruffled tenor of his life into the quiet 
and grateful occupation of a parish minister. He 
speaks of his anticipations on this occasion with a 
heartiness and enthusiasm, which show, at least, that 
he imagined himself sincere, and that in the future 
he fancied he had only to look for the unalloyed 
blessings of tranquillity, competence, and peace. 
Such was his haste to realize these precious hopes, 
that he had not patience to wait the usual term re- 
quired of young candidates, who had not been 
graduated at a college. To facilitate the attainment 
of this end, his advisers recommended that he 
should go to Long Island, and there pass through 
his initiatory studies, where, it was said, smaller at- 
tainments were required for admission to the desk ; 
and when once admitted, he might return and pro- 
cure a settlement wherever there should be an 
opening. With this scheme he was well satisfied, 
and being furnished by the above gentlemen with 
suitable letters of recommendation, he mounted his 
horse and set off for Long Island, with the same 
buoyancy of spirits, as when, two months before, he 
entered his canoe at Dartmouth, and with a purpose 
much more definite, and higher expectations. 

In describing this tour I shall let him speak in his 
own language, as contained in a letter written to a 
friend at the time. 

" Equipped with my credentials, I embarked for 
Long Island. The next day I fortunately arrived at 
Southold, surprised my mother with a visit, and after 
remaining with her twenty-four hours, I rode to the 
eastward. With another recommendatory letter from 
the reverend Mr Storrs, I crossed Shelter Island 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 33 

ferry, and thence to East Hampton, where I met 
with a kind reception from the reverend Mr Buell, 
moderator of the Synod, an influential man, and a 
glorious preacher. Here I was introduced to a very- 
large library, and, in company with another young 
candidate, I spent about a month with intense appli- 
cation to study. But this was only an interregnum. 
Mr Buell let me know, that the presbytery here 
proceed in these matters with a perfect extreme of 
deliberation ; and since my circumstances were as 
they were, he advised me to comply with the dispen- 
sations of Providence, and seek a school, and study 
under some divine. I knew his advice to be as that 
from a father to a son, and, without a moment's 
hesitation, wiping the sweat of care from my brow, 
I bestrided my Rosinante with a mountain of grief 
upon my shoulders, but a good letter in my pocket. 
I jogged on groaning, but never desponding, passed 
to Bridgetown, thence to Southampton, and through 
many little villages to Sataucket Quorum, then to 
Smithtown, Fireplace, Oyster Bay, and so on, visitT 
ing and making acquaintance with the clergy wher- 
ever I went. 

" At length, after a ride of almost one hundred 
miles, by crossing the island I arrived at Huntington, 
a large town about forty miles from New York, 
where I visited the minister of the place, old Mr 
Prime. After about twelve days' feasting upon his 
great library, and a quickly made friendship with 
the ingenious Dr Prime formerly of New York, and 
a fruitless attempt to get a school, I was returning, 
but stopped to become acquainted with the excellent 
Irishman, the Reverend Mr Caldwell of Elizabeth 
Town, and the popular Dr Rogers of New York ; 
and, after some cordials of consolation and encour- 



24 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

agement, they bade me go on, and God speed me. 
They told me that the sufferings I met with, and 
the contemptuous ideas the people where I was born 
and educated had of me, were nothing strange, but 
reflected honor on me, — that a prophet is hardly 
accepted in his own country, and the like. 

" I returned, after a very fatiguing journey, to Mr 
Buell's, and staid a short time with that hermit, 
where and with whom I longed to be buried in ease j 
but I scorned to be a coward, and chose to die in 
front of battle if anywhere. We advised together 
anew, and it was resolved, that since I was so disap- 
pointed, I should proceed with renewed vigor. Ac- 
cordingly, with warm letters I came again to the 
continent, where I arrived in the evening, but 
thought it most prudent not to stop there, no, not 
where I was born. I dropped a tear upon the oc- 
casion, and rode on toward Preston till eleven at 
night, when, feeling quite exhausted, for I had been 
severely sea-sick, I dismounted, left my horse to 
graze, looked up to heaven, and under its canopy 
fell asleep. The next morning I rode to my cousin 
Isaac's house, and being refreshed, I advanced once 
more to Mr Hart's, where I was again handsomely 
and kindly received." 

Thus disappointed in his expectations on Long 
Island, his ardor was somewhat damped, but his 
resolution remained unshaken. He made up his 
mind to apply again to his old friends, and seek 
their sympathy and counsel. As they had express- 
ed themselves warmly in his favor, and recommend- 
ed him in flattering terms to the Long Island clergy, 
he was sanguine in the faith, that they would not, 
when things came to an extremity, hesitate to do, 
on their own part, what they had encouraged so 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 25 

earnestly in their brethren. With some confidence, 
therefore, he repeated his solicitations to Mr Hart. 
The result shall likewise be given in his own words. 

" We have advised together, and read the afore- 
said letters. The amount of all is this, ' Don't be 
discouraged, Mr Ledyard ; you will think the better 
of fair weather after this storm. My private senti- 
ments and my public conduct, in your case, are two 
things. I don't doubt one single instant of your pro- 
bity and well-meaning. What the world does, I 
cannot say ; but as I officiate in a public character, 
I must deal with you as so officiating ; and for that 
reason, as well as securing your future tranquillity 
in the ministry, by making a good beginning, I by 
all means advise, first, that you write speedily to the 
reverend Mr Whitman, and get him to write to us 
respecting you what he can, as you have lived long 
under him ; secondly, that you write also to Dart- 
mouth, to procure a regular dismission from the 
president. When we have these, we shall proceed 
with confidence in the face of all men, and not be 
ashamed to introduce you anywhere.' Now, Sir, 
though but very brief, I have given you an exact 
account of my situation, and the fatigues of my 
pursuits. You see what bars my sitting directly 
down. 

" As Dartmouth is at such a distance, the clergy 
here do not insist on a return from that place so soon 
as from Hartford, but the sooner I have an answer 
from Mr Whitman, the sooner will my mind be at 
rest. There are four ministers that stand ready to 
advance me the moment this is done, among whom 
the famous Dr Bellamy is one. The clergy are 
very exact in these things, and I have sometimes 
thought that they meant to keep me humming 
3 



26 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

around them till I was tired, and so get clear of an 
absolute refusal, or, as Dr Young expresses it, to 

' Fright me, with terrors of a world unknown, 
From joys of this, to keep them all their own.' 

They have found me affliction-proof, if this was their 
motive ; but I plainly see they mean it for my honor 
— and their own too. The request, in short, which 
I make of you is, that you will please to wait on 
Mr Whitman with my letter, hurry him for an 
answer, and send it to me by the earliest opportu- 
nity." 

That such an answer never came may be inferred 
from the fact, that he was never licensed as a 
preacher ; and the judgment of his friends, the cler- 
gymen, is not to be so much censured in this, per- 
haps, as in the unjustifiable encouragement they held 
out to him. They could not suppose him qualified 
for the clerical office, with the limited knowledge 
and experience he possessed ; and it was wrong to 
delude him with the notion, that they would under 
any circumstances publicly approve him as such, 
merely upon receiving two letters, which at most 
could testify only to his general character. His at- 
tainments were afterwards to be made. He was 
doubtless importunate, and Mr Hart and Dr Bellamy 
were goodnatured ; but their kindness would have 
been better applied, especially to a mind like that 
of Ledyard's, if they had been more frank and de- 
cided in the outset. His sensibility was keenly 
touched by the disappointment, which, as much as 
anything perhaps, drove him, somewhat disgusted, 
from prosecuting his theological studies. That he 
engaged in them with considerable ardor, no one 
can doubt after reading his remarks above ; that he 
would have continued long of the same mind is not 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 27 

very likely ; but it was a mistaken exercise of be- 
nevolence to foster hopes, which there was no chance 
of seeing ripened into realities, and thus enticing 
him into a profession, for which he was hardly in 
any one respect fitted. As a further proof, that he 
was in earnest at the beginning, it may be mention- 
ed, that he not only applied himself assiduously to 
study, but was accustomed to declaim in the woods 
and retired places, that he might discipline his voice, 
and prepare himself for public speaking. 

But his studies in theology were of short dura- 
tion. He was mortified at the ill success of his 
application to the clergy for being approved as a 
candidate, and other circumstances concurred to 
annoy and wound him. The effect of these on his 
feelings will appear in the following postscript to a 
letter, written three months after the one last quoted. 
" I send you this from Groton, even the little Groton, 
where it seems I must at last hide my head, and re- 
linquish all the glorious purposes I had in view. 
'T is hard. Do you not wonder that I still live, when 
there is such inquiry about the strange man in Hart- 
ford, when I am the mark of impertinent curiosity, 
when everything around me opposes my designs ? 
Do you not wonder, that I have my senses in so 
great a degree as to let you know, that I am as un- 
moved as my observers and opposers?" These 
hints are enough to show that obstacles of a serious 
kind, whether imaginary or real, met him in various 
quarters, and that a weight of corroding cares hung 
upon his soul. 

But we are not left long to sympathize with him 
in his griefs. All thoughts of divinity being now 
abandoned, he is introduced to us a few weeks after- 
wards in a totally new character, that of a sailor on 



28 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

board a vessel bound to Gibraltar. Captain Deshon, 
who resided in New London, and sailed from that 
port, had been his father's friend, and the hero of 
our narrative now shipped with him for a voyage to 
the Mediterranean. He entered as a common 
sailor, but was treated by the captain rather as a 
friend and associate, than as one of the ordinary 
crew, and his good humor, suavity of manners, and 
comparative intelligence, made his company highly 
acceptable to all on board. The voyage was first to 
Gibraltar, next to a port on the Barbary coast for 
taking in a cargo of mules, and thence homeward 
by way of the West Indies. 

One incident only has been transmitted, as worthy 
of notice during this voyage. While the ship was 
lying at Gibraltar, Ledyard was all at once missing, 
and it was some time before anything could be heard 
of him. There came a rumor at length, that he 
was among the soldiery in the barracks. A person 
was sent to make inquiry, who descried him in the 
ranks, dressed in the British uniform, armed and 
equipped from head to foot, and carrying himself 
with a martial air and attitude, which proved that to 
whatever vocation he might be called, he was not to 
be outdone by his comrades. Captain Deshon went 
to his quarters and remonstrated with him for this 
strange freak, and urged him to return. He said he 
enlisted because he was partial to the service, and 
thought the profession of a soldier well suited to a 
man of honor and enterprise ; but that he would not 
be obstinate, and was willing to go back, if the cap- 
tain insisted on it, and would procure his release. 
When the circumstances were made known to the 
British commanding officer, he consented to release 
his new recruit, who returned on board the ship and 
prosecuted his voyage. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 29 

While at Gibraltar, he wrote home a very full and 
amusing account of what he saw in that place, but 
the letter has been lost. 

Within a year from the time of sailing from New 
London, the vessel anchored again in the same har- 
bor, and the only profit yielded by the voyage to our 
young adventurer was a little experience of the hard- 
ships of a sailor's life, and knowledge of the myste- 
ries of his profession. However valuable might be 
this species of gain as stock on hand for future use, 
it had no power to satisfy immediate want ; poverty 
stared him in the face ; and at the age of twenty-two 
he found himself a solitary wanderer, dependent on 
the bounty of his friends, without employment or 
prospects, having tried various pursuits and failed of 
success in all. Neither his pride, nor his sense of 
duty, would suffer him to remain in this condition one 
moment longer, than till he could devise a method of 
escape from it ; yet the peculiar frame of his mind 
and temper was such, that nothing would have been 
more idle, either in himself or any other person, than 
to think of chaining him down to any of the dull 
courses of life, to which the great mass of mankind 
is contented to resort, as the means of acquiring a 
fortune, gaining a competence, or driving want from 
the door. That he must provide for himself by his 
own efforts, was a proposition too forcibly impressed 
upon him to be denied ; but there seemed not a 
single propensity of his nature, which inclined him 
to direct these efforts in the same manner as other 
people, or to attain common ends by common means. 
Poverty and privation were trifles of no weight with 
him, compared with the irksome necessity of walk- 
ing in the same path that all the world walked in, 
and doing things as all the world had done them be- 
3* 



30 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

fore. He thought this a very tame pursuit, unwor- 
thy of a rational man, whose soul should be fired 
with a nobler ambition. 

Entertaining such views of the objects of human 
life, it is not susprising that he should feel himself 
hanging loosely upon society, and should discover 
that while he continued without purpose and without 
property, he would exhibit slender claims to the re- 
spect of the community, or the confidence of his 
friends. Their sympathy he might have, but this 
was a boon which he disdained to accept, when eli- 
cited by misfortunes springing from his own improv- 
idence, or by evils which he had power to avoid. 
That he had no intention of fixing himself down in 
any steady occupation, is proved by a remark in a 
letter written from Gibraltar. "I allot to myself," 
said he, " a seven years' ramble more, although the 
past has long since wasted the means-! possessed." 
Often had he heard his grandfather descant on his 
ancestors, and his wealthy connexions in England ; 
and the thought had entered our rambler's head, 
that one day it might be no unwise thing for him to 
visit these relatives, and claim alliance with them as 
a hopeful branch of so worthy a stock. In this 
stage of his affairs, he was convinced that the prop- 
er time had come, and he suffered now and then a 
bright vision to play before his fancy, of the happy 
change that would ensue, by the aid and influence 
of his newly found friends in England, who would 
receive with joy so promising a member of their 
family from America. Elated with dreams like 
these, he took a hasty leave of the place of his nativi- 
ty, and the associates of his youth, and made the 
best of his way to New York, there to seek out a 
passage to the land of promise. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 31 

The first vessel about to sail for England was bound 
to Plymouth, and in this he obtained a birth, proba- 
bly on condition of working as a sailor. His trip to 
the Mediterranean was now to yield its fruits. On 
his arrival in Plymouth and leaving the vessel, he 
was reduced to the extreme of want, without money 
in his pocket, or a single acquaintance to whom he 
could apply for relief. Thus situated it behoved 
him to make haste to London, where he looked for 
an immediate welcome and a home among the rela- 
tions, whose wealth and virtues he had heard so 
much extolled by his grandfather. As the good 
fortune of the moment would have it, he fell in with 
an Irishman, a genuine specimen of the honesty, 
frankness, and good nature, which characterize many 
of the sons of Erin; whose plight so exactly re- 
sembled his own, that they formed a mutual attach- 
ment almost as soon as they came in contact with 
each other. There is a sympathetic power in mis- 
fortune, which is heedless of the forms of society, 
and acts not by any cold rule of calculation. Both 
the travellers were pedestrians bound to London, 
both were equally destitute, having nothing where- 
with to procure a subsistence. They agreed to take 
turns in begging on the road. In this manner they 
travelled harmoniously together, till they reached 
London, without having any reason to complain that 
Providence had neglected them on the way, or that 
there was a lack of generous and disinterested feel- 
ing in the human kind. 

Ledyard's thoughts were now gay, for although 
in beggary, he fancied that the next step would 
place him at the summit of his wishes, and open to 
him wide the door of prosperity. Had he possessed 
the very lamp of Aladdin, and been endued with the 



32 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

Dervise's power, he could not have been more con- 
fident or happy. To find out his relations was now 
his only anxiety. By accident he saw the family 
name on a carriage, and he inquired of the coach- 
man where the owner lived, and what was his occu- 
pation. The answer was, that he was a rich mer- 
chant, and the place of his residence was pointed 
out. Our eager traveller hastened to the house, 
inquired for the occupant, and ascertained that he 
was not at home. A son was there, however, who 
listened to his story, but gave him soon to under- 
stand, that he put no faith in his representations, as 
he had never heard of any such relations as he told 
of in America. He observed, moreover, that he 
resembled one of the family, who had been absent 
some years in the East Indies, and whom they were 
extremely anxious to see, assuring him, that if he 
was really the person, he would be received with 
open arms. This was a very unlucky interview, for 
nothing ever raised Ledyard's anger to so high a 
pitch, as a suspicion expressed or implied of his in- 
tegrity and honest intentions. He seemed from that 
moment determined to prosecute his inquiry after his 
family connexions no further, but to shun all that 
bore the name. The son pressed him to remain 
till his father should return, but he abruptly left the 
house, and never went back. 

/ Some time afterwards, when he had gained ac- 
quaintances of respectable name in London, to whom 
he related his story, they went with it to the same 
gentleman, telling him that the young man seemed 
honest, and they doubted not the truth of what he 
had stated. The gentleman refused at first to credit 
him, unless he would bring some written evidence. 
Upon further inquiry, however, he was better satis- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 33 

fied, and sent for Ledyard to come to his house. 
This invitation was declined in no very gracious 
manner ; and when money was sent to him after- 
wards by the same person, who had heard that he 
was in distress, he rejected it with great indignation, 
and commanded the bearer to carry it back to his 
master, and tell him that he belonged not to the race 
of the Ledyards. Such was the end of his dreams 
about his rich relations, and it must be acknowledg- 
ed, that his own haughty spirit seems to have been 
the chief enemy to his success. He would probably 
have called it magnanimous self-respect ; and, name 
it as we will, since it operated wholly against himself, 
he must certainly be freed from any charge of mean 
motives, or selfish ends. 

It was just at this time, that Captain Cook was 
making preparations for his third and last voyage 
round the world. So successful had he been in his 
former expeditions, and so loud was the sound of 
his fame, that the whole country was awake to his 
new undertaking, and the general sensation was such, 
as to inspire adventurous minds with a wish to parti- 
cipate in its glory. Nothing could more exactly 
accord with the native genius and cherished feelings 
of Ledyard. As a first step towards becoming con- 
nected with this expedition, he enlisted in the marine 
service, and then by his address he gained an intro- 
duction to Captain Cook. It may be presumed, 
that on an occasion of so much moment to him, he 
would set himself forward to the best advantage ; 
and he had great power in recommending himself to 
the favor of others, whenever he chose to put it in 
action. His manly form, mild but animated and 
expressive eye, perfect self-possession, a boldness 
not obtrusive, but showing a consciousness of his 



34 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

proper dignity, an independent spirit, and a glow 
of enthusiasm giving life to his conversation and his 
whole deportment, — these were traits which could 
not escape so discriminating an eye as that of 
Cook; they formed a rare combination peculiarly 
suited to the hardships and perils of his daring en- 
terprise. They gained the confidence of the great 
navigator, who immediately took him into his ser- 
vice, and promoted him to be a corporal of marines. 
In this capacity he sailed from England, but tradi- 
tion reports, on what authority I know not, that he 
was in due time raised to the post of sergeant. That 
he should have been willing to undertake so long a 
voyage, in so humble a station, can be accounted for 
only from his burning desire to be connected with 
the expedition. His skill in nautical matters was not 
yet such as to qualify him for a higher place, even 
if he had been able to exhibit stronger pretensions 
through the agency and influence of friends. But 
he was in the midst of strangers, without any other 
claims to notice, than such as he presented in his 
own person. These were his only pasport to the 
favor of Cook, and in relying on them no one was 
ever deceived. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 35 



CHAPTER III. 

Ledyard's journal of his voyage with Captain Cook. — Testimony 
in his favor hy Captain Burney. — Sails for the Cape of Good 
Hope. — Thence to Kerguelen's Islands and the south of New 
Holland. — Character of the people on Van Diemen's Land. — 
Present state of the colony there. — Arrives in New Zealand. — 
Account of the people, their manners and peculiarities. — Re- 
markable contrasts exhibited in their character — Love adventure 
between an English sailor and a New Zealand girl. — Omai, the 
Otaheitan. — Vessels depart from New Zealand, and fall in with 
newly discovered islands. — Affecting story of three Otaheitans 
found on one of them. — Arrival at the Friendly Islands. — Peo- 
ple of Tongataboo. — Their condition, mode of living, and 
amusements. — Ledyard passes a night with the King. — Wrest- 
ling and other athletic exercises described. — Fireworks exhibited 
by Cook. — Propensity of the natives to thieving. — An instance 
in a chief called Feenou, and the extraordinary measures used to 
recover the stolen property. — Departure from Tongataboo. 

The particulars of this voyage have been so often 
repeated from the official narrative, and are so well 
known, that any formal attempt to give a connected 
series of events would be superfluous and without 
interest. I shall, therefore, chiefly confine myself 
to such incidents as came under our traveller's ob- 
servation, and to such remarks and reflections of his 
own, as indicate his opinions and the character of 
his mind. He kept a private journal of the whole 
voyage, but on the return of the expedition, before 
any person had landed, all papers of this description 
were taken away, from both officers and men, by 
order of the commander, and Ledyard's journal 
among the rest. This precaution was necessary to 
prevent an imperfect account of the voyage going 
abroad, before one could be issued under the sanc- 
tion of the admiralty. 

Ledyard never recovered his papers, but when he 
returned to Hartford, more than two years after the 



36 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

termination of the voyage, his friends induced him 
to write the short account, which appeared with his 
name. To satisfy public curiosity till a complete 
work could be prepared, a very brief sketch of the 
voyage in a single volume had already been publish- 
ed by authority in England. This volume Ledyard 
had procured, and he relied on it for dates, distan- 
ces, the courses of the vessels, and for other particu- 
lars serving to revive his recollection of what he had 
experienced and witnessed. Extracts are made 
without alteration in two or three instances, and sev- 
eral of the last pages are literally copied. With no 
other written materials Ledyard produced his 
manuscript journal, which he sold to Mr Nathaniel 
Patten, publisher in Hartford, for twenty guineas. 
It was printed in a duodecimo volume containing a 
chart, and a dedication to Governor Trumbull, ex- 
pressive of the author's gratitude for the generosity 
and kindness, which he had received from that vete- 
ran patriot. 

A narrative thus drawn up must of course be in 
many respects imperfect, but the narrator makes no 
high pretensions ; he never taxes our faith beyond 
the obvious bounds of probability, nor calls our 
attention to hearsay reports and speculations of oth- 
ers. He describes what he saw and heard, and 
utters his own sentiments. In a few instances he 
varies from the accounts afterwards published in 
England ; but these commonly relate either to oc- 
currences as to which he had a better opportunity 
for personal knowledge, or concerning which for 
various reasons it was the policy of the leaders of 
the expedition to preserve silence. The train of 
events at the Sandwich Islands, which led to the 
death of Captain Cook, is narrated by Ledyard in 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD; 37 

a manner more consistent and natural, than appears 
in any other account of it. The precipitancy of the 
officers, and of Cook particularly, or at least their 
want of caution, which was the primary cause of the 
tragical issue, was kept out of sight by the authoriz- 
ed narrators, and a mystery long hung over that 
catastrophe, owing to the absence of any obvious 
coherency between causes and effects. On this point 
Ledyard's narrative is full and satisfactory, as will be 
seen in its proper place. 

As a proof of our traveller's activity of mind, and 
his ardor of inquiry, during this voyage, I shall here 
quote a passage from a work recently published by 
Captain James Burney, entitled, A Chronological 
History of Northeastern Voyages of Discovery. 
The author of this book was a lieutenant under 
Cook in his two last voyages, son of Dr Burney, and 
consequently brother of Madame D'Arblay, the 
celebrated novelist. He is repeatedly mentioned in 
Ledyard's journal, and was a very enterprising offi- 
cer. The estimation in which our hero was held by 
him will appear by the following extract, as well as 
by other parts of the work. 

" With what education I know not," says Captain 
Burney, " but with an ardent disposition, Ledyard 
had a passion for lofty sentiment and description. 
When corporal of marines on board of the Resolu- 
tion, after the death of Captain Cook, he proffered 
his services to Captain Clerke to undertake the office 
of historiographer to our expedition, and presented 
a specimen, which described the manners of the 
Society Islanders, and the kind of life led by our 
people whilst among them. He was not aware how 
many candidates he would have to contend with, if 
the office to which he aspired had been vacant ; 
4 



38 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

perhaps not with fewer than with every one in the 
two ships who kept journals. Literary ambition and 
disposition to authorship led us in each ship to set 
up a weekly paper. When the paper in either ship 
was ready for delivery, a signal was made, and when 
answered by a similar signal from the other ship, 
Captain Cook, if the weather was fine, would good- 
naturedly let a boat be hoisted out to make the ex- 
change, and he was always glad to read our paper, 
but never favored our editors with the contribution 
of a paragraph. I believe none of these papers 
have been saved, nor do I remember by what titles 
we distinguished them. Ledyard's performance was 
not criticised in our paper, as that would have en- 
titled him to a freedom of controversy not consistent 
with military subordination. His ideas were thought 
too sentimental, and his language too florid. No 
one, however, doubted that his feelings were in ac- 
cord with his expressions j and the same is to be 
said of the little, which remains of what he has since 
written, more worthy of being preserved, and which 
its worthiness will preserve, and particularly of his 
celebrated commendation of women in his Siberian 
Tour." 

Ledyard's contributions to the paper here men- 
tioned, and his account of the Society Islanders, 
were probably taken from him with his manuscript 
journal, as I have found no remnants of them among 
his papers. His printed Journal" contains a graphic 
and animated description of the Society Islands, but 
it was evidently written from recollection, like the 
rest of the volume. This testimony of Captain 
Burney in favor of his habits of observation, and 
literary industry, may justly inspire confidence in his 
writings. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 39 

The last expedition under Captain Cook, and the 
one in which our traveller was engaged, left England 
on the twelfth of July, 1776. It consisted of two 
ships, the Resolution and Discovery, the former 
commanded by Captain Cook, and the latter by 
Captain Gierke. After touching at Teneriffe, they 
proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope, and came to 
anchor in Table Bay, where they were to refit, lay 
in a new stock of provisions, and prepare for en- 
countering the inconveniences and dangers of a long 
voyage in the great Southern Ocean, with the cer- 
tainty that many months must elapse, before they 
could hope to arrive again in a port of civilized 
people* 

Several days were passed here in getting all things 
in readiness ; the men of science employed them- 
selves in short excursions into the country ; provis- 
ions were collected by the proper officers ; and the 
sailors were busy at their daily tasks. Last of all, 
were taken on board various live animals, designed 
to be left at the islands where they did not exist, 
making, in connexion with those brought from Eng- 
land, a motley collection of horses, cattle, sheep, 
goats, hogs, dogs, cats, hares, rabbits, monkeys, 
ducks, geese, turkeys, and peacocks ; thus, says 
our voyager, " did we resemble the Ark, and appear 
as though we were going as well to stock as to dis- 
cover a new world." iEsop might have conversed 
for weeks with such a congregated multitude. The 
monkeys and peacocks seem to have been out of 
place in this assembly of sober and useful animals, 
and in the end they did little credit to their commu- 
nity. The monkeys never ceased from mischief, 
and the gay attire of the peacocks tempted a chief 
of Tongataboo to steal and carry them off. 



40 £IFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

On the first of December, Cook departed from 
the Cape of Good Hope, and proceeded in a south- 
easterly direction, intending to shape his course 
around the southern extremity of New Holland. 
After sailing twenty-five days and passing two islands, 
the tops of which were covered with snow, although 
it was midsummer in those latitudes, he came to 
anchor at an island, which had been recently discov- 
ered by Kerguelen, a French navigator. A bottle 
was found suspended by a wire between two rocks, 
sealed, and containing a piece of parchment, on 
which was written in French and Latin an account 
of Kerguelen's voyage and discovery. The island 
was desolate, without inhabitants, trees, or shrubs. 
A little grass was obtained for the cattle, and a spe- 
cies of vegetable was found resembling a wild cab- 
bage, but of no value. It rained profusely, streams 
of fresh water came down from the hills, and the 
empty casks were replenished. The shore was cov- 
ered with seals and sea-dogs, the former of which, 
apparently unconscious of danger, were killed with- 
out difficulty, and they afforded a seasonable supply 
of oil for lamps and other purposes. Vast flocks of 
birds hovered around, and the penguins, so little did 
they understand the character of their visiters, would 
allow themselves to be approached and knocked 
down with clubs. Man was an enemy, whose san- 
guinary prowess these tenants of the lonely island 
had never learnt to fear, and the simple penguin 
received his death blow with a composure and un- 
concern, that would have immortalized a stoic 
philosopher. The sailors were indulged in celebrat- 
ing Christmas at Kerguelen's Island ; after which the 
ships sailed, and the next harbour to be gained was 
Adventure Bay, in Van Diemen's Land, being at the 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 41 

southern limits of New Holland. As no discoveries 
were to be attempted during this run, they proceed- 
ed directly to the point of destination, at which they 
safely arrived within less than two months after leav- 
ing the Cape of Good Hope. 

The ships being moored in this bay, called by 
Tasman, who discovered it, Frederic Henry's Bay, 
the sailors were sent out in parties to procure wood, 
water, and grass, all of which existed there in great 
plenty. No inhabitants appeared, although columns 
of smoke had been seen here and there rising 
through the woods at some distance, affording a sign 
that people were in the neighbourhood. After a 
day or two the natives came down to the beach in 
small parties, men, women, and children ; but they 
seemed the most wretched of human beings, wear- 
ing no clothes, and carrying with them nothing but a 
rude stick about three feet long, and sharpened at 
one end. Their skin was black, hair curly, and the 
beards of the men, as well as their hair, besmeared 
with a red, oily substance. They were inoffensive, 
neither manifesting fear, nor offering annoyance to 
their visiters. When bread was given them, it was 
thrown away without being tasted, although they 
were made to understand that it was to be eaten ; 
the same they did with fish, which had been caught 
in the harbour ; but they accepted birds, and intimated 
a fondness for that kind of food. When a gun was 
fired, they all ran off like wild deer to the woods, 
and were seen no more that day ; but their fright 
was not of long duration, for they came again the 
next morning with as little unconcern as ever. In 
all respects these people appeared in the lowest stage 
of human advancement. " They are the only peo- 
ple," says Ledyard, " who are known to go with 
4* 



42 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

their persons entirely naked, that have ever yet been 
discovered. Amidst the most stately groves of wood, 
they have neither weapons of defence, nor any other 
species of instruments applicable to the various pur- 
poses of life ; contiguous to the sea, they have no 
canoes ; and exposed from the nature of the climate 
to the inclemency of the seasons, as well as to the 
annoyances of the beasts of the forest, they have no 
houses to retire to, but the temporary shelter of a 
few pieces of old bark laid transversely over some 
small poles. They appear also to be inactive, indo- 
lent, and unaffected with the least curiosity." Cook 
remarked, that the natives here resembled those, 
whom he had seen in his former voyage on the north 
part of New Holland, and from this and other cir- 
cumstances it was inferred, that New Holland from 
that point northward was not divided by any strait. 
Subsequent discoveries overthrew this conjecture, 
and it has since been made known, that Van Die- 
men's Land is an island separated from New Holland 
by a passage, or strait, nearly one hundred miles 
broad, and containing many small islands. It is re- 
markable, that no resemblance has been discovered 
between the language of the natives here, and that 
spoken by the New-Hollanders. 

On Van Diemen's island are now some of the 
most flourishing settlements in the British dominions. 
The wilderness is disappearing before the strong 
arm of enterprise, and under the hand of culture 
the hills and valleys yield in abundance all the pro- 
ducts, common to similar latitudes in the north. 
Emigrants from England annually flock to that 
country, invest their capital in lands, and engage in 
agricultural pursuits. Towns have been built, and 
commerce established. Wheat, maize, wool, cattle, 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 43 

and other articles, are largely exported, and there is 
hardly recorded in history an instance of a new colo- 
ny having increased so rapidly in numbers and 
wealth. The wild men, like our North American 
Indians, retreat and leave their native soil to a better 
destiny. 

When Cook had provided his ships with wood 
and water, they were unmoored, and their course 
directed to New Zealand, where they entered a 
cove in Queen Charlotte's Sound. Here they re- 
mained a month, which afforded time for observa- 
tions, and for laying in such provisions as were 
found in the country. New Zealand consists of two 
islands, which are situate between parallels of lati- 
tude on the south of the equator, nearly correspond- 
ing with those of the United States on the north, 
thus having a variable climate, and a soil suited to 
most of the productions of temperate regions. In 
the character of the inhabitants are exhibited con- 
trasts never perceived in any other people. They 
are cannibals, devouring human victims with eager- 
ness and delight, ferocious beyond example in their 
wars, deadly in their revenge, and insatiable in their 
thirst for the blood of their enemies ; yet they have 
many of the opposite traits, strong attachment to 
friends, with a quick sensibility to their sufferings, 
and grief inconsolable at the death of a relative ; 
nor are they devoid of generosity, or unsusceptible 
of the tender passion. Living as they do in a tem- 
perate climate, they are an athletic, hardy race of 
people, whose progress in refinement bears no pro- 
portion to their natural powers of body and mind ; 
and thus no proper balance being maintained, the 
contending elements of human nature, the propensi- 
ties, passions, and affections, shoot forth into the 



44 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

wildest extremes. How they should differ so en- 
tirely from their neighbours, the New-Hollanders, 
who are in nearly the same external condition, is a 
question upon which the curious may speculate, but 
will hardly come to a satisfactory conclusion. 
Plausible reasons may nevertheless be adduced to 
prove, that the New-Zealanders and New-Holland- 
ers, notwithstanding their proximity, have originated 
from stocks widely remote. 

While the ships lay at anchor in Queen Charlotte's 
Sound, a singular love adventure occurred between 
a young English sailor and a New Zealand girl, the 
particulars of which are related in Ledyard's jour- 
nal, as they are also in Cook's Voyages, and which 
prove the softer sex among savages, even the 
daughters of cannibals, to be capable of deep affec- 
tion and strong attachment. An intimacy was con- 
tracted between a sailor and a native girl about 
fourteen years of age, which grew stronger from day 
to day, till at length all the time he could spare 
from his duties was devoted to her society. He 
furnished her with combs to decorate her hair, and 
with ornaments for her person ; and, to make him- 
self more attractive in her eyes, he submitted to be 
tattooed according to the custom of the country. 
His passion was reciprocated in the most ardent 
and artless manner by the maiden, Gowannahee, 
whom no conventional rules had taught to conceal 
the emotions of nature ; and although they under- 
stood not each other's language, yet love whispered 
in accents, which they found no difficulty in com- 
prehending. Thus their days and hours flew rapid- 
ly away, till the time of separation approached. 
Gowannahee was much distressed when such an 
event was hinted at ; she would throw her arms 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 45 

around her lover's neck, and insist that he should 
not go ; and such were the alluring arts she used, 
and such the willingness of the youth to be led by 
them, that he resolved to desert from the ship and 
remain behind. He Contrived to remove his cloth- 
ing and other effects on shore, and to escape by the 
stratagem of dressing himself in the costume of the 
natives and mingling in the crowd, just as orders 
were given to sail, and the New-Zealanders were 
required to leave the ships. When the roll was 
called to ascertain if all hands were on board, his 
absence was discovered. The cause was easily ap- 
prehended, and some of the officers were disposed 
to let such an instance of true love have its reward, 
and not to disturb the enamoured sailor in his dreams 
of future felicity among the savages of New Zealand. 
The less sentimental Cook was not moved by these 
mild counsels ; he saw mischief in such a precedent, 
and he was inflexible ; a guard of marines was des- 
patched to search for the truant, and bring him back 
to duty. He had proceeded to the interior and se- 
creted himself with his faithful Gowannahee, but his 
hiding-place was at last discovered. As soon as 
she perceived their intention to take him away, she 
was overwhelmed with anguish, and at the parting 
scene on the beach she yielded herself up to expres- 
sions of grief and despair, which the stoutest heart 
could not witness unmoved. The young sailor was 
examined and tried for his misdemeanor ; but Cook 
was so much amused with the schemes he had de- 
vised for himself, and the picture he had drawn of 
his future prospects and greatness, as the husband of 
Gowannahee, and a chief of renown, that he forbore 
to aggravate the pains of disappointed hope by any 
formal punishment. 



46 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

Recent observations have confirmed all that was 
said by Cook and his companions of the New-Zeal- 
anders. English missionaries have for some years 
past been stationed among them, and possessed the 
means of becoming perfectly acquainted with their 
character and habits. They have witnessed their 
banquets of human flesh, their extremes of passion, 
their savage barbarity at one time, and their docile, 
affectionate temper, and keen sensibility at another. 
War is their highest delight, and in pursuing an en- 
emy, nothing of the human being seems left, except 
his reason maddened with revenge, and making him 
adroit in the work of death. In several instances, 
boats' and ships' crews have been cut off and devour- 
ed by them. Yet these people are superstitious and 
full of religious fear, imagining themselves to be 
surrounded by invisible spirits, who have power 
over them, and who must be conciliated by prayers 
and ceremonies j who control the elements, bring 
rain on the land, and rouse up the winds and waves 
at sea. The missionaries have known persons be- 
come so frantic, at the death of a near relation, as 
to commit suicide ; and it is a common thing for 
them to wound and mangle their bodies in a fright- 
ful manner on such occasions. When Mr Marsden 
made his second missionary tour to these islands, 
after having been away two or three years, his old 
acquaintances burst into tears in talking of their 
friends, who had died during his absence. History 
does not acquaint us with more eminent examples 
of humanity and pious efforts, of resolution and 
self-denial, than are manifested in the missionaries, 
who have forsaken even the common comforts of 
civilized life, and settled down with a determination 
to pass their days in this region of moral darkness 
and human debasement. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 47 

While Cook was at New Zealand he was greatly- 
assisted in his intercourse with the people by Omai, 
a native of the Society Islands, whom he had taken 
to England on a former voyage, and who was now 
returning to his country, loaded with presents from 
the king, and other persons whom curiosity had 
drawn around him, in Great Britain. Although 
Omai had never before seen a New-Zealander, yet 
the language so much resembled his own, that he 
could easily converse with the inhabitants. As he 
knew English, he thus became a ready interpreter. 
This was an advantage, which Cook had never been 
able to enjoy on any former occasion. 

The vessels weighed anchor and departed from 
Queen Charlotte's Sound, destined to Otaheite, or, 
as it is now called, Tahiti, the largest of the Socie- 
ty Islands, and about fifteen hundred miles distant 
from New Zealand. Head winds and boisterous 
weather forced them out of their course ; grass and 
water for the cattle, as well as fresh provisions for 
the men, began to fail ; and it was thought best to 
bear away for the Friendly Islands, where a supply 
could be at once obtained. On this passage they 
fell in with several islands never before discovered, 
but their shores were so closely bound with coral 
reefs as to prevent the approach of the ships. The 
natives came off in canoes, and brought hogs and 
fruit, which they gave in exchange for articles of 
little value. 

A small party, consisting of Mr Burney, three or 
four other officers, and Omai, landed on one of these 
islands, called Watteeoo, where they were immedi- 
ately plundered of everything they had about them, 
and detained through the day. Great crowds gath- 
ered around, and annoyed them much, but no vio- 



48 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

lence was offered to their persons. Here Omai was 
astonished to find three of his own countrymen. 
Their story was affecting. Several years before, 
they had set off in a large canoe with a party of 
about twenty persons, men, women, and children, 
to pass from Otaheite to Ulietea, a neighbouring isl- 
and. A storm overtook them, and, after continuing 
three days, drove them so far out to sea, that they 
knew not where they were, nor what course to steer. 
Some of the women and children had perished in 
the storm, and others were so much exhausted as to 
survive no longer. The canoe was carried along by 
the current from day to day ; water and provision 
failed ; some of the survivors died of hunger and 
fatigue ; others in the frenzy of despair jumped over- 
board and were drowned ; and after thirteen days, 
when the canoe was discovered by the natives of 
Watteeoo, it contained but four men, and these so 
much reduced by famine and suffering, as to be un- 
conscious of their situation, and scarcely to be dis- 
tinguished from the dead bodies, with which they 
were promiscuously lying, in the bottom of the boat. 
They were taken on shore, and by kind treatment 
they gradually recovered their consciousness and 
strength. One had since died, but the other three 
said they were happy in their adopted country, and 
declined Omai's invitation to return with him to their 
native islands, adding that their nearest relatives had 
perished before their eyes on the disastrous voyage, 
and it would only be renewing their grief to visit 
again the places, in which they had formerly known 
them. 

The distance between Otaheite and Watteeoo is 
more than fifteen hundred miles, and this voyage of 
a canoe affords an important fact in solving the great 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 49 

problem, which has so long perplexed geographers and 
speculating philosophers, as to the manner in which 
the innumerable clusters of islands in the Pacific 
ocean have been peopled. We here have proof in- 
contestible, that a communication between remote 
islands was possible, even by such means only as the 
natives themselves possessed. This single fact, in 
short, is enough to settle the question. 

After touching at Anamoca, and remaining some 
days at the Happaee Islands, Cook came to anchor 
in a harbour of Tongataboo, on the ninth of June. 
Here they stayed twenty-six days, collecting a great 
abundance of provisions, and living on social and 
friendly terms with the natives. This island is ex- 
ceedingly fertile, covered with forests and luxuriant 
herbage. Agriculture and the arts of life were car- 
ried to a much greater extent here, than at New 
Zealand, or indeed most of the South Sea islands. 
The kind disposition of the people had given to 
Tongataboo, and the cluster of islands in its neigh- 
bourhood, the name of the Friendly Islands. Later 
experience has proved, that they had a smaller 
claim to this distinction, than was at first supposed. 
It is very probable, however, that their acquaintance 
with civilized men was the principal cause of their 
apparent change of character. They learnt new 
vices faster than they acquired a knowledge of their 
criminality, or the moral power of resisting tempta- 
tion. Nowhere have the missionaries found their 
situation more uncomfortable, or their task more 
difficult, than at the Friendly Islands. When visited 
by Cook, the people were comparatively amiable, 
simple, and happy, addicted to the weaknesses, but 
not to the grosser crimes of the savage state ; accus- 
tomed to warlike enterprises, but not making them, 
5 



50 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

as did the New-Zealanders, the chief source of their 
pleasure, and the great business of their lives. On 
the contrary, they had amusements of an innocent 
kind, as well as curious religious ceremonies, which 
occupied much of their time, and were suited to a 
state of peace and tranquillity. These were often 
exhibited, and obviously as much with a desire to 
please their visitants, as to show off their skill to ad- 
vantage, or promote their own gratification. The 
king, or great chief, whose name was Poulaho, treat- 
ed Cook with marked respect, and caused all his 
people to do the same, as far as he could exercise 
his power to that end. Ledyard describes in an 
agreeable manner the scenes, that came under his 
observation at Tongataboo. The day after landing, 
it was his duty to be on shore, and he passed the 
night with Poulaho, who had declined Cook's invi- 
tation to go with him on board. 

" It was just dusk," says Ledyard, " when they 
parted, and as I had been present during a part of 
this first interview, and was detained on shore, I was 
glad he did not go off, and asked him to my tent ; but 
Poulaho chose rather to have me go with hint to his 
house, where we went and sat down together with- 
out the entrance. We had been here but a few 
minutes, before one of the natives advanced through 
the grove to the skirts of the green, and there halted. 
Paulaho observed him, and told me he wanted him, 
upon which I beckoned to the Indian, and he came 
to us. When he approached Poulaho, he squatted 
down upon his hams, and put his forehead to the 
sole of Poulaho's foot, and then received some di- 
rections from him, and went away, and returned 
again very soon with some baked yams and fish 
rolled up in fresh plantain leaves, and deposited in a 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 51 

little basket made of palm leaves, and a large cocoa- 
nut shell full of clean fresh water, and a smaller one 
of salt water. These he set down, and went and 
brought a mess of the same kind, and set them down 
by me. Poulaho then desired I would eat ; but 
preferring salt, which I had in the tent, to the sea 
water which they used, I called one of the guard, 
and had some of that brought me to eat with my fish, 
which was really most delightfully dressed, and of 
which I ate very heartily. 

" Their animal and vegetable food is dressed in 
the same manner here, as at the southern and north- 
ern tropical islands throughout these seas, being all 
baked among hot stones laid in a hole, and covered 
over first with leaves and then with mould. Pou- 
laho was fed by the chief who waited on him, both 
with victuals and drink. After he had finished, the 
remains were carried away by the chief in waiting, 
who returned soon after with two large separate rolls 
of cloth, and two little low wooden stools. The 
cloth was for a covering while asleep, and the stools 
to raise and rest the head on, as we do on a pillow. 
These were left within the house, or rather under 
the roof, one side being open. The floor within 
was composed of coarse dry grass, leaves, and flow- 
ers, over which were spread large, well wrought 
mats. On this Poulaho and I removed and sat 
down, while the chief unrolled and spread out the 
cloth ', after which he retired, and in a few minutes 
there appeared a fine young girl about seventeen 
years of age, who, approaching Poulaho, stooped 
and kissed his great toe, and then retired and sat 
down in an opposite part of the house. It was now 
about nine o'clock, and a bright moonshine ; the sky 
was serene, and the winds hushed. Suddenly I 



52 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

heard a number of their flutes, beginning nearly at 
the same time, burst from every quarter of the sur- 
rounding grove ; and whether this was meant as an 
exhilarating serenade, or a soothing soporific to the 
great Poulaho, I cannot tell. Immediately on hear- 
ing the music he took me by the hand, intimating 
that he was going to sleep, and showing me the other 
cloth, which was spread nearly beside him, and the 
pillow, invited me to use it." 

After describing the occupations of the natives, 
their traffic, articles of trade, and some of their cus- 
toms, he speaks of their amusements. 

" The markets being over, there were generally 
an hour or two, and those before dark, in which the 
natives, to entertain us and exhibit their own accom- 
plishments, used to form matches at wrestling, box- 
ing, and other athletic exercises, of which they were 
very vain, and in which they were by far the best 
accomplished of all the people we ever visited before 
or after. These exercises were always performed 
on the green within the circle ; and among the Indian 
spectators there were a certain number of elderly 
men, who presided over and regulated the exercise. 
When one of the wrestlers-, or combatants, was 
fairly excelled, they signified it by a short sonorous 
sentence, which they sung, expressing that he was 
fallen, fairly fallen, or that he was fairly conquered, 
and that the victor kept the field. From this there 
was no appeal, nor indeed did they seem to want it, 
for among their roughest exercises I never saw any 
of them choleric, envious, malicious, or revengeful ; 
but preserving their tempers, or being less irascible 
than we generally are, they quitted the stage with the 
same good nature with which they entered it. 

" When they wrestle, they sieze each other by a 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 53 

strong plaited girdle, made of the fibres of the cocoa- 
nut, and worn round the waist for that purpose ; 
and they describe nearly, the same operations in this 
contest that we do in what we call hugging or scuf- 
fling. In boxing, their manoeuvres are different. 
They had both hands clenched, and bound round 
separately with small cords, which perhaps was in- 
tended to prevent their clenching each other when 
closely engaged, thus preventing foul play ; or it 
might be to preserve the joints of the fingers, and 
especially the thumb, from being dislocated. Per- 
haps the best general idea I can convey of their 
attitudes in this exercise, is to compare them with 
those of the ancient gladiators of Rome, which they 
much resemble. 

" They are very expert and intrepid in these per- 
formances, but as they are mere friendly efforts of 
skill and prowess, they continue no longer than till 
the purposes of such a contention are answered ; 
and the combatant, as soon as he finds that he shall 
be conquered, is seldom such an obstinate fool, as to 
be beat out of his senses to be made sensible he is 
so, but retires most commonly with a whole skin. 
But the exercise of the club is not so, and as these 
contests are very severe, and even dangerous, they 
are seldom performed. We never saw but one 
instance of it, but it was a most capital one, as the 
performers were capital characters ; and though we 
expected the exhibition to be very short, yet it lasted 
nearly twenty minutes, protracted by the skill of the 
combatants in avoiding each other's blows, some of 
which were no less violent than artful. After being 
pretty well buffeted about the body, a fortuitous 
blow upon the head of one decided the matter, and 
the conquered was carried off, while the victor, 
5* 



54 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

elated with success, stood and enjoyed the subse- 
quent shouts of praise, that proceeded from the 
spectators. When these shouts ended, the young 
women round the circle rose, and sang, and danced 
a short kind of interlude in celebration of the hero." 

Not to be outdone by the monarch of the Friendly 
Isles in politeness and attempts to please, Cook got 
up a brilliant exhibition of fireworks, with which 
Poulaho and all his people were greatly astonished 
and delighted. The mathematical and astronomical 
instruments, which had been fitted up in tents on 
shore, were also matters of curiosity and wonder. 
The natives were particularly amused, likewise, with 
the horses, cows, sheep, goats, and other animals, 
which Ledyard said, on leaving the Cape of Good 
Hope, made the ships resemble Noah's ark. As 
dogs and hogs were the only animals found on the 
islands, and of course the only ones ever before 
seen by the inhabitants, they seemed completely 
puzzled to know what to make of these new orders 
of the creation. The sheep and goats they called 
birds ; but the horses, cows, cats, and rabbits, were 
nondescripts for which no place had been assigned 
in their scientific arrangement. 

Thus agreeably passed the days at Tongataboo; 
the good-natured people omitted nothing, which was 
in their power, to gratify their visiters, whether by 
supplying them with the best provisions the islands 
afforded, or by amusing them with innocent pastimes. 
One thing only marred the harmony of their inter- 
course. These simple and hospitable people, each 
and all, from the highest rank downwards, were in- 
corrigible thieves ; that is, they made no scruple 
to take whatever they could lay their fingers upon, 
and appropriate it to their own use. This habit was 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 55 

prevalent throughout all the South Sea islands, but 
nowhere had the voyagers been so much annoyed 
by it, as at these islands of friendship. Cook re- 
sorted to summary and severe measures to teach the 
natives what he thought of this vice, and sometimes 
inflicted punishments little suited to the moral light 
of the people, whom he arraigned as transgressors. 
It does not appear that pilfering was deemed a 
crime, or a disreputable offence ; and indeed the 
historian of Cook's Voyages declares, that " the in- 
habitants of the South Sea islands in their petty 
larcenies were actuated by a childish disposition, 
rather than a thievish one." In this view of the 
subject, it can hardly be imagined that there was 
any natural right in the civilized visiters to inflict 
harsh punishment on their ignorant and kind enter- 
tainers ; on the contrary, it was cruel and unjust ; 
it was the last way to gain friends, or to inspire the 
natives with a love of the moral code. Ledyard 
speaks with warmth of some examples of this kind, 
which came under his notice, but adds, alluding to 
Cook, " It must be remembered that the ability of 
performing the important errand before us, depended 
very much, if not entirely, upon the precarious sup- 
plies we might procure from these and other such 
islands, and he must of consequence be very anxious 
and solicitous in this concernment ; but perhaps no 
consideration will excuse the severity, which he 
sometimes used towards the natives on these occa- 
sions ; and he would probably have done better to 
consider, that the full exertion of extreme power is 
an argument of extreme weakness; and nature 
seemed, to inform the insulted natives of the truth of 
this maxim, for before we quitted Tongataboo, we 
could not go anywhere into the country upon busi- 
ness or pleasure without danger." 



56 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

One instance is related with more particularity 
than others, as it occurred in high life, and was 
made a state concern. In Tongataboo was a chief 
called Feenou, a man of fine personal appearance, 
graceful and commanding in his carriage, frank in 
his disposition, generous, enterprising, and bold ; in 
short, he was the idol of the people, and throughout 
all the isles there was no chief, whose renown was 
so loudly and heartily trumpeted as that of Feenou. 
He was the man^ whom the great Poulaho delighted 
to honor above others. When the strangers came, 
Feenou was their early and devoted friend, and his 
attachment and kind offices held out to the last. 
" If they lost any goods, and these were carried 
either to the interior of Tongataboo, or to any of the 
detached islands, their only confidential resource 
was Feenou ; or if any other emergency required 
despatch, policy, courage, or force, Feenou was the 
man to advise and act." Such were the character 
and deeds of this chief. He could subdue the 
hearts of men, and the strength of an enemy, but 
he could not conquer the tyranny of habit. From 
day to day he had gazed with inward raptures upon 
the gaudy plumage of the peacocks, which had been 
brought with much care and trouble from England ; 
their charms were irresistible ; just as the vessels 
were about to sail, the peacocks disappeared ; Fee- 
nou was also out of the way ; he had stolen the 
birds, and concealed himself with his booty. 

The affront was resented by Cook in an extraor- 
dinary manner ; he immediately ordered Poulaho, 
the king, to be arrested, and placed a guard over 
him in his own house, giving him to understand that 
he should be held a prisoner till the peacocks were 
restored. This was a novel mode of making a king 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 57 

answerable for the acts of his subjects. Much dis- 
order ensued ; the chiefs felt the insult offered to 
their sovereign, and began to assume a warlike atti- 
tude, and threaten the guard ; but Poulaho advised 
them to desist, and preserve peace till a reconcilia- 
tion should be attempted ; and when Cook appeared, 
the king saluted him with dignity and respect, but 
with a manfest sense of the injustice that was prac- 
tised upon him. His coolness and counsel kept the 
people from offering violence to the guards, who 
surrounded him with fixed bayonets ; and the next 
day Feenou himself came forward, entreated for the 
release of the king, and assured Cook that the birds 
should be returned to him before sunset. Thus the 
affair was happily terminated, leaving a much strong- 
er proof of the firmness than the prudence of the 
great navigator. The reconciliation was followed 
by magnificent presents of red feathers and provis- 
ions on the part of Feenou, and others equally 
valuable from Cook. He gave Poulaho some of the 
domestic animals, which he had brought from Eng- 
land for the purpose of distributing among the 
islands. All parties separated mutually satisfied 
with each other, and with as warm tokens of friend- 
ship from the natives, as could be expected after the 
recent transactions. 



58 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Society Islands. — Otaheite. — Ledyard's description of the lan- 
guage, customs, religion, laws, and government of the natives. 
— Their prohable faith in the doctrine of transmigration. — Re- 
marks on his mode of reasoning on this subject. — His theory of 
the oiigin of customs and superstitions. — Notions of a Deity 
among the Otaheitans. — Conduct of Omai. — Difficulties attend- 
ing the efforts to civilize savages. — Sandwich Islands discovered. 
— The vessels proceed to the American continent, and anchor in 
Nootka Sound. — Appearance and manners of the people. — 
Indian wampum.— -The abundance of furs. — Cannibalism. — 
Curious digression on the origin and practice of sacrifices. — 
Captain Cook passes Bering's Straits, explores the northern 
ocean till stopped by the ice, and returns to the island of Ona- 
laska. — Sends Ledyard with two Indians in search of a Russian 
establishment on the coast. — His account of this adventure. — 
In what manner he was transported in a canoe. — Village of 
Russians and Indians. — Hot baths. — Their habitations and man- 
ner of living described. — Bering's vessel. — Ledyard returns to 
the ships, and reports to Captain Cook. — Expedition returns to 
the Sandwich Islands. 

We shall next join our navigators at the Society 
Islands, where they arrived on the fourteenth of 
August. Many of the officers and seamen, who 
had been there on a former voyage, were recognised 
by the natives, and received with great cordiality ; 
the day of landing at Otaheite was given up to fes- 
tivity and mutual congratulations between old ac- 
quaintances. 

The occurrences during their stay at these islands, 
are related in a lively manner by Ledyard. He de- 
scribes the natural productions of the Society 
Islands ; the appearance and condition of the natives ; 
their food, clothing, and houses ; their language, 
customs, religion, laws, and government. From the 
minuteness with which he speaks on most of these 
subjects, it is evident that the principal points in the 
essay mentioned by Mr Burney were still fresh in 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 59 

his memory, and moreover that he was a close and 
inquisitive observer of everything, which came within 
his reach or knowledge. 

" The inhabitants," he remarks, " are of the 
largest size of Europeans ; the men are tall, strong, 
well limbed, and fairly shapeH. The women of 
superior rank among them are also in general above 
our middle size, but those of the inferior rank are 
far below it ; some of them are quite small. Their 
complexion is a. clear olive, or brunette, and the 
whole contour of the face quite handsome, except 
the nose, which is generally a little inclined to be 
flat. Their hair is black and coarse ; the men have 
beards, but pluck the greatest part of them out ; 
they are vigorous, easy, graceful, and liberal in their 
deportment, and of a courteous, hospitable disposi- 
tion, but shrewd and artful. The women cut their 
hair short, and the men wear theirs long. They 
have a custom of staining their bodies in a manner 
that is universal among all those islands, and is cal- 
led by them tattooing ; in doing this they prick the 
skin with an instrument of small sharp bones, which 
they dip as occasion requires into a black composi- 
tion of coal dust and water, which leaves an indelible 
stain. The operation is painful, and it is some days 
before the wound is well. 

" Their clothing consists of a cloth made of the 
inner rind of the bark of three different kinds of 
trees, the Chinese paper-mulberry, the bread-fruit 
tree, and a kind of wild fig tree, which, in the form- 
ation of different kinds of cloth, are differently 
disposed of by using one singly,' or any two, or all 
of them- together. The principal excellences of 
this cloth are its coolness and softness ; its defects 
are its being pervious to water and easily torn. 



60 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

They sometimes, especially if it is wet, wear fine 
mats of which they have a great variety. 

" Their amusements are music, dancing, wrest- 
ling, and boxing, all which are like those of Tonga- 
taboo. 

" As to the religion, laws, and government of these 
people, much has been said about them by former 
voyagers ; and in truth too much, especially about 
their religion, which they are not fond of discover- 
ing, and therefore, when urged on the matter, they 
have often, rather than displease those who made 
the inquiry, told not only different accounts, but such 
as were utterly inconsistent with what we knew to 
be true from ocular demonstration. They assured 
us, for instance, that they never sacrificed human 
bodies ; but an accident happened, that contradicted 
it, and gave us the full proof of it, the operation and 
design. 

" They believe in the immortality of the soul, at 
least its existence in a future state ; but how it ex- 
ists, whether as a mere spiritual substance, or whether 
it is united again to a corporeal or material form, 
and what form, is uncertain. It is supposed they 
have notions of transmigration. Our conjectures 
originate from observing that universal, constant, and 
uniform regard, which they pay in a greater or less 
degree to every species of subordinate beings, even 
to the minutest insect, and the most insignificant 
reptile. This was never esteemed a philosophical 
sentiment, nor a mere dictate of nature, because the 
people who entertain these notions are not led to 
embrace them by the unbiassed impulses of nature, 
which would lead them to regard their own species 
more than any other. It must, therefore, be from 
other motives ; and I know of none so probable as 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 61 

religion or superstition, which are indeed synony- 
mous terms when applied to these people ; besides, 
it is well known to have been a religious sentiment 
among many other people, both ancient and modern, 
who have claimed the appellation of civilized. It 
exists now among several Asiatic sects, both east 
and west of the Ganges, particularly among the 
Banians, who abstain from all animal food. It is 
well known, that some tribes in Asia have built hos- 
pitals for certain species of subordinate beings." 

The author's reasoning here about the doctrine of 
transmigration is somewhat curious, but his inference 
that the natives believed in it, because they showed a 
regard for inferior animals, is at least questionable. 
He goes on to enforce his opinion, however, by re- 
marking that they eat little animal food, and abstain 
from the flesh of some kinds of birds altogether. In 
killing animals, also, they are careful to inflict as 
little pain as possible ; they are extremely indulgent 
to rats, with which they are much infested, and 
rarely do them any harm ; when stung by flies or 
musquitoes, they only frighten them away. This 
lenity towards animals, however commendable in 
those who practise it, will hardly prove their faith in 
the doctrine of transmigration, or that these savages 
refrained from crushing a fly or musquito, because 
they apprehended a spirit, which had once animated 
a human form, had been doomed to an existence in 
one of these insects. It is a favorite theory of the 
author, at which he hints on several occasions, that 
such habits and superstitions of a people, as are 
woven into their character and history, must have 
come down from some very remote time, and not 
have sprung out of casual or local circumstances, of 
which any knowledge exists. He says, " all the 
6 



G2 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

customs of mankind appear to be derivative and tra- 
ditionary." How far he would carry back the 
tradition, he does not add ; but this doctrine of 
transmigration he traces to Asia, and supposes it to 
have found its way to the islands of the Pacific 
with the first settlers, who came from that quarter, 
and to have kept its place through all subsequent 
changes among the superstitions of their descend- 
ants. 

" Their notions of a deity," he continues, " and 
the speculative parts of their religion, are involved 
even among themselves in mystery, and perplexed 
with inconsistencies ; and their priests, who alone 
pretend to be informed of it, have, by their own in- 
dustrious fabrications and the addition of its tradi- 
tionary fables, shut themselves up in endless mazes 
of inextricable labyrinths. None of them act alike 
in their ceremonies, and none of them narrate alike 
when inquired of concerning the matter ; therefore, 
what they conceive respecting a God we cannot 
tell ; though we conclude upon the whole that they 
worship one great Supreme, the author and governor 
of all things ; but there seems to be such a string of 
subordinate gods intervening between him and the 
least of those, and the characters of the whole so 
contrasting, whimsical, absurd, and ridiculous, that 
their mythology is very droll, and represents the best 
of the group no better than a harlequin. 

" The government of Otaheite resembles the 
early conditon of every government, which, in an 
unimproved and unrefined state, is ever a kind of 
feudal system of subordination, securing licentious 
liberty to a. few, and a dependant servility to the 
rest." 

Having above spoken of Omai, the native of the 



LIFE OF JOHN LED YARD. (53 

Society Islands, whom Cook had taken with him to 
England on a former voyage, and who had received 
every possible advantage for becoming acquainted 
with the habits, arts, and enjoyments of civilized life, 
the reader may be curious to know in what manner 
he demeaned himself when he returned to his native 
country, and what were the prospects of his being 
benefited by his acquisitions and experience. In 
this case, as in many others, it will be seen, that the 
attempt to enlighten the ignorance and change the 
character of the savage was unsuccessful. On land- 
ing at Otaheite, says Ledyard, " we had a number 
of visiters, among whom was a sister of Omai, who 
came to welcome her brother to his native country 
again ; but the behaviour of Omai on that occasion 
was consonant to his proud, empty, ambitious heart, 
and he refused at first to own her for his sister ; the 
reason of which was, her being a poor obscure girl, 
and as he expected to be nothing but king, the con- 
nexion would disgrace him." In a few days the 
vessels sailed over to Hueheine, the native island of 
Omai, at which he was finally to be left. Here a 
small house was built for him, in which his effects 
were deposited. About an acre of ground adjoining 
the house was purchased of the natives, surrounded 
with a ditch, and converted into a garden, in which 
various European seeds were planted. Several of 
the live animals, brought from England, were also 
put on shore, and left under his charge. 

" When ready to sail, Captain Cook made an 
entertainment on behalf of Omai at his little house, 
and in order to recommend him still further to the 
chiefs of the island, he invited them also. Every 
body enjoyed himself but Omai, who became more 
dejected as the time of his taking leave of us for ever 



64 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

approached ; and when he came finally to bid 
adieu, the scene was very affecting to the whole 
company. It is certainly to be regretted, that Omai 
will never be of any service to his country by his 
travels, but perhaps will render his countrymen, and 
himself too, the more unhappy." 

The subsequent fate of Omai is not known, but 
had his knowledge, his efforts, or his example pro- 
duced any valuable effects in his native island, the 
monuments of them would have been obvious to 
future voyagers. There has never been a more idle 
scheme of philanthropy, than that of converting a 
savage into a civilized man. No one attempt, it is 
believed, has ever been successful. Even Sampson 
Occum, before his death, relapsed into some of the 
worst habits of his tribe, and no North American 
Indian of unmixed blood, whatever pains may have 
been taken with his education, has been known to 
adopt the manners of civilized men, or to pass his 
life among them. The reason is sufficiently plain, 
without resorting to natural instinct. In a civilized 
community, a man who has been a savage, must 
always feel himself inferior to those around him ; 
this feeling will drive him to his native woods, where 
he can claim and maintain an equality with his asso- 
ciates. This is the universal sentiment of nature, 
and none but a slave can be without it. When a 
man lives with savages, he will assume the habits of 
a savage, the light of education will be extinguished, 
and his mind and his moral sense will soon adapt 
themselves to his condition. 

The vessels at length departed from the Society 
Islands, and took a northerly course, with the inten- 
tion of falling in with the coast of America, at about 
the fortieth degree of north latitude, After sailing 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 65 

six weeks, without approaching any other land, than 
an uninhabited island, consisting chiefly of a bed of 
coral rocks, and abounding in turtle of a fine quality, 
the mariners were greeted with a view of high land 
at a distance, which was not marked on the charts. 
It proved to be a new discovery, and was one of the 
group of islands, named afterwards by Cook the 
Sandwich Islands. A safe harbor was found and 
entered, in which the vessels were no sooner anchor- 
ed, than they were surrounded by canoes filled with 
the natives, who regarded the new comers with 
inexpressible surprise, though not with apparent fear. 
A source of astonishment to the navigators was, that 
the people should speak a language differing but 
little from those of the Society Islands and New 
Zealand, which were distant, the first nearly three 
thousand, and the other four thousand miles, with 
an ocean intervening. The wide extent of the 
Polynesian dialects was not then known. Although 
very shy at first, the natives were not long in sum- 
moning courage to go on board. They looked with 
wonder upon the objects around them, examined the 
hands, faces, and clothes of the sailors, and inquired 
if they could eat. When satisfied on this head, by 
seeing them devour dry biscuit, the simple islanders 
were eager to show their hospitality, and presented 
them with pigs, yams, sweet potatoes, and plantains, 
thus verifying a declaration of Ledyard on another 
occasion, that " all uncivilized men are hospitable." 
A friendly intercourse was established, and provis- 
ions were given in barter for old iron, nails, and other 
articles of little intrinsic value, but important to the 
natives. 

Cook remained ten days only at these islands, and 
then sailed for the American coast, intending to visit 
6* 



66 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

them again on his return from the north in the fol- 
lowing winter. It was now the first of February, 
and no time was to be lost in hastening his voyage 
to the northward, for his plan was to proceed along 
the American shore, and run through Bering's 
Strait, so as to explore the polar latitudes at the proper 
season. Without any remarkable accident or ad- 
venture he reached the continent, and anchored in 
Nootka Sound. This is an extraordinary bay, ex- 
tending several leagues into the country, and com- 
pletely land-locked. On the first night the ships 
were anchored in water nearly five hundred feet 
deep, and in other parts it was more than six hun- 
dred. A convenient harbor was found the next day. 
The bay is surrounded by lofty hills, and the shore 
is so bold, that the ships were secured by ropes fast- 
ened to trees. 

Our wanderer was now on his native continent, 
and although more than three thousand miles from 
the place of his birth, yet he could not resist the 
sensations kindled by the remembrance of home. 
All the deep emotions, says he, " incident to natural 
attachments and early prejudices played around my 
heart, and I indulged them." The feeling was 
spontaneous and genuine. Ledyard saw in the in- 
habitants, likewise, indications of an affinity between 
them and the Indians, whom he had visited in his 
native country. In all his travels he manifests a 
remarkable acuteness in observing the human char- 
acter in its various gradations of improvement, and 
particularly in detecting resemblances between un- 
civilized people of different regions. Whether 
among the South Sea Islands, on the Northwest 
Coast of America, in Kamtschatka, Siberia, or 
Egypt, remarks of this sort escape him continually. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 57 

He seems to have had in his mind a scale upon 
which he graduated the nations of men, and which 
he studied so carefully, that he could assign to each 
its proper place. His observations were not restrict- 
ed to one class of qualities or circumstances, but 
they extended to all that constitute individual and 
national peculiarities, to the intellect, physical char- 
acteristics, modes of living, dress, warlike imple- 
ments, habitations, furniture, government, religion, 
social state, and domestic habits. Nor was he 
merely observing and inquisitive ; he was addicted 
to thought and reflection. His theories were raised 
on the basis of facts ; his results were sustained by 
reasons, satisfactory at least to himself. He was 
fond of pursuing analogies, especially in regard to 
the origin, customs, and characters of the various 
races of men ; and here the wide compass of his in- 
quiries supplied him with so many materials not 
accessible to others, that he sometimes came to con- 
clusions less obvious to those who follow him, than 
they were to his own mind. His description of the 
people of Nootka is here inserted. 

" I had no sooner beheld these Americans, than I 
set them down for the same kind of people, that 
inhabit the opposite side of the continent. They 
are rather above the middle stature, copper-colored, 
and of an athletic make. They have long black 
hair, which they generally wear in a club on the top 
of the head ; they fill it, when dresssed, with oil, 
paint, and the down of birds. They also paint their 
faces with red, blue,, and white colors, but from 
whence they had them, or how they were prepared, 
they would not inform us, nor could we tell. Their 
clothing generally consists of skins, but they have 
two other sorts of garments ; the one is made of the 



68 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

inner rind of some sort of bark, twisted and united 
together like the woof of our coarse cloths; the 
other very strongly resembles the New Zealand 
toga, and is also principally made with the hair of 
their dogs, which are mostly white and of the do- 
mestic kind. Upon this garment is displayed, very 
well executed, the manner of their catching the 
whale ; we saw nothing so well done by a savage in 
our travels. Their garments of all kinds are worn 
mantlewise, and the borders of them are fringed, or 
terminated with some particular kind of ornament. 
Their richest skins, when converted to garments, are 
edged with a great curiosity. This is nothing less, 
than the very species of wampum, so well known on 
the opposite side of the continent. It is identically 
the same ; and this wampum was not only found 
among all the Aborigines we saw on this side of the 
continent, but even exists unmutilated on the oppo- 
site coasts of North Asia. We saw them make use 
of no coverings to their feet or legs, and it was sel- 
dom they covered their heads. When they did, it 
was with a kind of a basket covering, made after the 
manner and form of the Chinese and Chinese Tar- 
tars' hats. Their language is very guttural, and if 
it were possible to reduce it to our orthography, it 
would very much abound with consonants. In their 
manners they resemble the other Aborigines of 
North America. They are bold and ferocious, 
sly and reserved, not easily provoked, but revenge- 
ful ; we saw no signs of religion or worship among 
them, and if they sacrifice, it is to the god of lib- 
erty." 

The fact here stated, respecting wampum, is curi- 
ous, and confirms a remark of the author that the 
diffusive power of commerce extended at that time 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 69 

throughout the whole continent of North America. 
" Nothing," says he, " can impede the progress of 
commerce among the uninformed part of mankind, 
but an intervention of too remote a communication 
by water." Civilized nations may impose restric- 
tions, or adopt regulations, under the name of pro- 
tecting laws, and thereby embarrass commerce, but 
when left free to move in its own channels, there is 
no obscure nook of human society, which it will not 
pervade. Ledyard discovered, among the natives 
on the Northwest coast, copper bracelets and knives, 
which could only have come to them across the con- 
tinent from Hudson's Bay. Clapperton found arti- 
cles of English manufacture in the heart of Africa; 
and the Russian embassy to Bukaria met with 
others from the same source in central Asia. The 
wampum of the North American Indians has been 
an article of traffic, and probably passed as a kind 
of currency among all the tribes from time imme- 
morial. 

Ledyard's views of the commercial resources of 
Nootka Sound, and other parts of the Northwest 
Coast, must not be overlooked in this place, because 
they were the foundation of many important suc- 
ceeding events of his life, in suggesting to him the 
benefits of a trafficking voyage to that coast. It will 
be seen hereafter, that he was the first, whether in 
Europe or America, to propose such a voyage as a 
mercantile enterprise, and that he persevered against 
numerous obstacles for several years, though with 
fruitless endeavors, to accomplish his object. The 
furs, purchased of the natives for a mere trifle, were 
sold in China at an enormus advance, which had 
not been anticipated, but which gave ample proof of 
the advantages of such a commerce, undertaken 



70 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

» 

upon a large scale. After enumerating some of the 
productions of the soil, he adds, " The light in which 
this country will appear most to advantage respects 
the variety of its animals, and the richness of their 
furs. They have foxes, sables, hares, marmosets, 
ermines, weazles, bears, wolves, deer, moose, dogs, 
otters, beavers, and a species of weazle called the 
glutton. The skin of this animal was sold at Kamt- 
schatka, a Russian factory on the Asiatic coast, for 
sixty rubles, which is near twelve guineas, and had 
it been sold in China, it would have been worth thirty 
guineas. We purchased while here about fifteen 
hundred beaver, besides other skins, but took none 
but the best, having no thoughts at that time of using 
them to any other advantage, than converting them 
to the purposes of clothing ; but it afterwards hap- 
pened that skins, which did not cost the purchaser 
sixpence sterling, sold in China for one hundred dol- 
lars. Neither did we purchase a quarter part of 
the beaver and other fur skins we might have done, 
and most certainly should have done, had we known 
of meeting the opportunity of disposing of them to 
such an astonishing profit." 

At Nootka Sound, and at the Sandwich Islands, 
Ledyard witnessed instances of cannibalism. In 
both places he saw human flesh prepared for food, 
but on one occasion only at each ; for, he says, the 
sailors expressed such a horror at the sight, that the 
natives never ventured to repeat the act in their 
presence. In this part of his narrative he makes a 
digression on sacrifices, which I shall quote, not so 
much for its originality, or the conclusiveness of its 
reasoning, as to show his manner of considering the 
subject. His notion is, that cannibalism, or the cus- 
tom of eating human flesh, which has by no means 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 71 

been uncommon among savage tribes, had its origin 
in the custom of sacrificing human victims. There 
is good evidence, that other tribes of North Ameri- 
can Indians, besides those at Nootka, have been 
cannibals, if they are not so even at the present day. 
There was a time, when some philanthropists pro- 
fessed to doubt the existence of this habit, so shock- 
ing to humanity, but the mass of testimony brought 
to light since Cook's first voyage is such, as to con- 
quer the most obstinate reluctance to conviction. 
Let the skeptic look at New Zealand, and cease to 
doubt. 

" The custom of sacrificing is very ancient. 
The first instance we have of it is in the lives of 
Cain and Abel. Their sacrifices consisted in part 
of animal flesh, burnt upon an altar dedicated to 
God. This custom exists now among all the un- 
civilized and Jewish nations, in the essential rites 
requisite to prove it analogous to the first institu- 
tion. The only material change in the ceremony 
is, that the barbarous nations have added human 
flesh. Whether this additional ingredient in the 
oblation took place at, a remote subsequent period, 
by the antecedent intervention of any extraordinary 
circumstance independent of the original form, does 
not appear, unless we place the subsequent period 
below the time of Abraham, or perhaps below the 
time of Jephthah. The circumstance of Abraham's 
intended sacrifice of Isaac, to which he was enjoin- 
ed by the Deity, though he absolutely did not do it, 
yet was sufficient to introduce the idea, that such a 
sacrifice was the most pleasing to God, and as it was 
an event very remarkable, it probably became an 
historical subject, and went abroad among other 
tribes, and was handed down among them by tradi- 



72 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

tion, and liable to all the changes incident thereto ; 
and in time the story might have been, that Abra- 
ham not only offered, but really did sacrifice his 
own son. But perhaps the story of Jephthah, judge 
of Israel, is more to the point. It is said he sacri- 
ficed his daughter as a burnt offering to the god, 
who had been propitious to him in war ; which does 
appear to be an act independent of custom, or tra- 
dition, as it was performed wholly from the obliga- 
tions of a rash vow, made to the deity in the fulness 
of a heart surcharged with hopes and fears. It is 
also a fact, that after this, particularly in the reign 
of the wicked Ahaz, it was a general custom, es- 
pecially among the heathen, to make their children 
' pass through the fire ; ' by which I suppose it is 
understood, that they were sacrificed with fire. 

" It seems, then, that the circumstance of adding 
human flesh in the ceremony of sacrificing, did take 
place in the years antecedent to Christ, and most 
probably from the example of Jepthah. After this 
we find it shifting places, attending the diffusive 
emigrations of the tribes, and commixing with man- 
kind in general, but especially with those disunited 
from the chosen descendants of the great Abraham ; 
whose descendants, being constantly favored with 
civil and religious instructions from Heaven itself, 
were not only preserved from superstition and bar- 
barity themselves, but were the means of furnishing 
the detached heathen with a variety of customs and 
ceremonies, that from the mere light of nature they 
never could have thought of ; nor could they pre- 
serve them pure and uncorrupt after they had adopt- 
ed them. Even the favored Israelites were perpet- 
ually deviating into schisms and cabals, and frequent- 
ly into downright idolatry, and all the vanity of su- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 73 

perstition and unbridled nonsense, from the imbecil- 
ity of human policy, when uninfluenced by heavenly 
wisdom and jurisprudence. No wonder then, that 
the separate tribes from the house of Abraham, 
though they primarily received many of their prin- 
ciples of civil and religious government from a pure 
fountain, should debase and contaminate them by 
the spurious conjunction of things derived from their 
Own imaginations. And this seems to have been 
the course of things to this day. There hath al- 
ways been a part of mankind conspicuous for 
knowledge, superior in wisdom, and favored by 
Heaven, from whom others are separated ; and these, 
like the moon, have only shone with borrowed light. 
Some customs may be local and indigenous to par- 
ticular times and circumstances, both in the civilized 
and uncivilized world, but far the greater part are 
derivative, and were originally bestowed on man by 
his supreme Governor ; those that we find among 
the civilized and wise, measured on a philosophic 
scale, are uncorrupted, while those that we find ex- 
isting in parts remote from civilization and knowl- 
edge, though they have a resemblance which plainly 
intimates from whence they came, are yet debased, 
mutilated, and by some hardly known. But who, 
that had seen a human body sacrificed at Otaheite 
to their god of war, would not perceive an analogy 
to ancient custom on those occasions, and attribute 
it rather to such custom, than to any other cause 
whatever. And the custom is not confined to Ota- 
heite alone ; it pervades the islands throughout the 
Pacific Ocean. It was the case with the ancient 
Britons. The Mexicans depopulated society by this 
carnivorous species of sacrifice. This could not be 
the effect of accident, want, or caprice. It may be 
7 



74 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

worthy of notice to remark furthermore, that in the 
time, of Ahaz, these sacrifices were made in high 
places. It was so in Mexico, and is so at Otaheite 
and other islands. The Mexicans flung their vic- 
tims from the top of their temple, dedicated to their 
god of war. The Otaheitans and the other island- 
ers prepare those oblations on their Morais." 

Captain Cook remained a few days only at Noot- 
ka Sound, and then sailed northward, coasting along 
the American shore, and making various geograph- 
ical discoveries, till he came to Bering's Straits, which 
separates Asia from America. In passing through 
this Strait, Ledyard says, both continents were dis- 
tinctly seen at the same time. Cook traversed the 
polar seas in the month of August, as far north as 
the ice would permit, in search of a northwest pas- 
sage, but without success. As the season advanced, 
he returned to the south, intending to renew his at- 
tempts the next year. 

Few occurrences are recorded in the voyage 
back to the Sandwich Islands. There is one, how- 
ever, which merits particular attention in this narra- 
tive, since our hero was the chief actor. The 
adventure is mentioned in Cook's Voyages, and by 
Captain Burney, as highly creditable to the enter- 
prise and discretion of Ledyard. It happened at 
the island of Onalaska, on the Northwest Coast. 
Ledyard himself wrote a particular description of 
it, which hardly admits of abridgment, and which 
may best be given, therefore, in his own words. 

" I have before observed, that we had noticed 
many appearances to the eastward of this, as far 
almost as Sandwich Sound, of an European inter- 
course, and that we had at this island in particular 
met with circumstances, that did not only indicate 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 75 

such an intercourse, but seemed strongly to intimate, 
that some Europeans were actually somewhere on 
the spot. The appearances that led to these con- 
jectures were such as these. We found among the 
inhabitants of this island two different kinds of peo- 
ple, the one we knew to be the Aborigines of Amer- 
ica, while we supposed the others to come from the 
opposite coasts of Asia. There were two different 
dialects also observed, and we found them fond of 
tobacco, rum, and snuff. Tobacco we even found 
them possessed of, and we observed several blue 
linen shirts and drawers among them. But the 
most remarkable circumstance was a cake of rye- 
meal newly baked, with a piece of salmon in it, 
seasoned with pepper and salt, which was brought 
and presented to Cook by a comely young chief, 
attended by two of those Indians, whom we suppos- 
ed to be Asiatics. The chief seemed anxious to 
explain to Cook the meaning of the present, and the 
purport of his visit ; and he was so far successful as 
to persuade him, that there were some strangers in 
the country, who were white, and had come over 
the great waters in a vessel somewhat like ours, and 
though not so large, was yet much larger than 
theirs. 

" In consequence of this, Cook was determined 
to explore the island. It was difficult, however, to 
fix upon a plan that would at once answer the pur- 
poses of safety and expedition. An armed body 
would proceed slowly, and if they should be cut off 
by the Indians, the loss in our present circumstances 
would be irreparable ; and a single person would en- 
tirely risk his life, though he would be much more 
expeditious if unmolested, and if he should be killed 
the loss would be only one. The latter seemed the 



76 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

best, but it was extremely hard to single out an in- 
dividual, and command him to go upon such an 
expedition ; and it was therefore thought proper to 
send a volunteer, or none. I was at this time, 
and indeed ever after, an intimate friend of John 
Gore, first lieutenant of the Resolution, a native 
of America as well as myself, and superior to me in 
command. He recommended me to Captain Cook 
to undertake the expedition, with which I imme- 
diately acquiesced.* Captain Cook assured me, 



* The following biographical sketch has been furnished from a 
source which gives it a claim to confidence. 

Captain John Gore was born about the year 1730, in the Colony 
of Virginia. It may be reasonably inferred, that he was brought 
up to the sea, as he served a long time on board the Windsor 
man-of-war, during the contest which preceded the American 
Revolution. In the successive voyages of the Dolphin, under 
Byron and Wallis, he served as a master's mate, and on his return 
to England with the latter, was promoted to a lieutenancy. The 
Endeavour was then preparing for a similar expedition, and having 
been appointed her second lieutenant, he accompanied Captain 
Cook in his first voyage round the world. In the following year, 
1772,he was appointed to the command of a merchant- ship, which 
had been engaged by Sir Joseph Banks for the purpose of visiting 
Iceland and the Hebrides ; and did not return again until after the 
departure of the Resolution and Adventure. 

In the last voyage of Captain Cook, he served as first lieuten- 
ant of the Resolution, and on the death of the navigator, and of 
Captain Clerke, he respectively succeeded to the captaincy of the 
Discovery, and to the chief command. On his arrival in England, 
he was immediately promoted to the rank of Post Captain, and 
shortly after to the station in Greenwich Hospital, which was to 
have been resumed by Captain Cook, in the event of his having 
returned. He remained in this honorable retirement till his death, 
which is recorded in a publication of the time, in the following 
words. 

" August 10, 1790 — At his apartments in Greenwich Hospital, 
sincerely regretted by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance, 
Captain John Gore, one of the Captains of Greenwich Hospital, a 
most experienced seaman, and an honor to his profession. He 
had sailed four times round the world ; first with Commodore By- 
ron ; secondly, with Captain Wallis, and the two last times with 
Captain James Cook." 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 77 

that he was happy I had undertaken it, as he was 
convinced I should persevere; and after giving me 
some instructions how to proceed, he wished me 
well, and desired I would not be longer absent than 
a. week if possible, at the expiration of which he 
should expect me to return. If I did not return by 
that time, he should wait another week for me, and 
no longer. The young chief before-mentioned, and 
his two attendants, were to be my guides. I took 
with me some presents adapted to the taste of the 
Indians, brandy in bottles, and bread, but no other 
provisions. I went entirely unarmed, by the advice 
of Captain Cook. The first day we proceeded 
about fifteen miles into the interior part of the island 
without any remarkable occurrence, until we ap- 
proached a village just before night. This village 
consisted of about thirty huts, some of them large 
and spacious, though not very high. The huts are 
composed of a kind of slight frame, erected over a 
square hole sunk about four feet into the ground ; 
the frame is covered at the bottom with turf, and 
upwards it is thatched with coarse grass ; the 
whole village was out to see us, and men, women, 
and children crowded about me. I was conducted 
by the young chief, who was my guide, and seemed 



In the theoretical attainments of his profession, Captain Gore 
may have been equalled by many, but as a practical navigator he 
was surpassed by none. As an officer, he appears to have blended 
a proper degree of prudence with the most unshaken intrepidity ; 
and his illustrious commander declares, that he ever reposed the 
fullest confidence in his diligence and ability. In his disposition 
he was benevolent ; and his generosity (as is remarked by Captain 
King) was manifested on all occasions. But the character of a 
" veiy worthy man," ascribed to him by Van Troil, in his letters 
on Iceland, will comprise the enumeration of his virtues. 

Of his particular kindness and attention to his countrymen, we 
have a striking proof in the case of Ledyard. 
7* 



78 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

proud and assiduous to serve me, into one of the 
largest huts. I was surprised at the behaviour of 
the Indians, for though they were curious to see me, 
yet they did not express that extraordinary curiosity, 
that would be expected, had they never seen an 
European before, and I was glad to perceive it, as it 
was an evidence in favor of what I wished to find 
true, namely, that there were Europeans now among 
them. The women of the house, which were al- 
most the only ones I had seen at this island, were 
much more tolerable, than I expected to find them ; 
one, in particular, seemed very busy to please me ; 
to her, therefore, I made several presents, with 
which she was extremely well pleased. As it was 
now dark, my young chief intimated to me, that we 
must tarry where we were that night, and proceed 
further the next day ; to which I very readily con- 
sented, being much fatigued. Our entertainment, 
the subsequent part of the evening, did not consist 
of delicacies or much variety ; they had dried fish, 
and I had bread and spirits, of which we all partici- 
pated. Ceremony was not invited to the feast, and 
nature presided over the entertainment. 

" At daylight Perpheela (which was the name of 
the young chief that was my guide) let me know 
that he was ready to go on ; upon which I flung off 
the skins I had slept in, put on my shoes and out- 
side vest, and arose to accompany him, repeating 
my presents to my friendly hosts. We had hither- 
to travelled in a northerly direction, but now went to 
the westward and southward. I was now so much 
relieved from the apprehension of any insult or in- 
jury from the Indians, that my journey would have 
been even agreeable, had I not been taken lame, 
with a swelling in the feet, which rendered it ex- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 79 

tremely painful to walk ; the country was also rough 
and hilly, and the weather wet and cold. About 
three hours before dark we came to a large bay, 
which appeared to be four leagues over. Here my 
guide, Perpheela, took a canoe and all our baggage, 
and set off, seemingly to cross the bay. He ap- 
peared to leave me in an abrupt manner, and told 
me to follow the two attendants. This gave me 
some uneasiness. I now followed Perpheela's two 
attendants, keeping the bay in view, but we had not 
gone above six miles before we saw a canoe ap- 
proaching us from the opposite side of the bay, in 
which were two Indians ; as soon as my guides saw 
the canoe, we ran to the shore from the hills and 
hailed them, and finding they did not hear us, we 
got some bushes and waved them in the air, which 
they saw, and stood directly for us. This canoe 
was sent by Perpheela to bring me across the bay, 
and shorten the distance of the journey. 

" It was beginning to be dark when the canoe 
came to us. It was a skin canoe, after the Esqui- 
maux plan, with two holes to accommodate two sit- 
ters. The Indians that came in the canoe talked a 
little with my two guides, and then came to me and 
desired that I would get into the canoe. This I did 
not very readily agree to, however, as there was no 
other place for me but to be thrust into the space 
between the holes, extended at length upon my 
back, and wholly excluded from seeing the way I 
went, or the power of extricating myself upon any 
emergency. But as there was no alternative, I sub- 
mitted thus to be stowed away in bulk, and went 
head foremost very swift through the water about an 
hour, when I felt the canoe strike a beach, and after- 
wards lifted up and carried some distance, and then 



80 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

set down again ; after which I was drawn out by the 
shoulders by three or four men, for it was now so 
dark that I could not tell who they were, though I 
was conscious I heard a language that was new. I 
was conducted by two of these persons, who appear- 
ed to be strangers, about forty rods, when I saw 
lights, and a number of huts like those I left in the 
morning. As we approached one of them, a door 
opened, and discovered a lamp, by which, to my joy 
and surprise, I discovered that the two men, who 
held me by each arm, were Europeans, fair and 
comely, and concluded from their appearance they 
were Russians, which I soon after found to be true. 
As we entered the hut, which was particularly long, 
I saw, arranged on each side, on a platform of plank, 
a number of Indians, who all bowed to me ; and as 
I advanced to the further end of the hut, there were 
other Russians. When I reached the end of the 
room, I was seated on a bench covered with fur 
skins, and as I was much fatigued, wet, and cold, I 
had a change of garments brought me, consisting of 
a blue silk shirt and drawers, a fur cap, boots, and 
gown, all which I put on with the same cheerfulness 
they were presented with. Hospitality is a virtue 
peculiar to man, and the obligation is as great to 
receive as to confer. As soon as I was rendered 
warm and comfortable, a table was set before me 
with a lamp upon it ; all the Russians in the house 
sat down round me, and the bottles of spirits, tobac- 
co, snuff, and whatever Perpheela had, were brought 
and set upon it ; these I presented to the company, 
intimating that they were presents from Commodore 
Cook, who was an Englishman. One of the com- 
pany then gave me to understand, that all the white 
people I saw there were subjects of the Empress 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYAED. 81 

Catherine of Russia, and rose and kissed my hand, 
the rest uncovering their heads. I then informed 
them as well as I could, that Commodore Cook 
wanted to see some of them, and had sent me there 
to conduct them to our ships. 

" These preliminaries over, we had supper, which 
consisted of boiled whale, halibut fried in oil, and 
broiled salmon. The latter I ate, and they gave me 
rye-bread, but would eat none of it themselves. 
They were very fond of the rum, which they drank 
without any mixture or measure. I had a very 
comfortable bed, composed of different fur skins, 
both under and over me, and being harassed the 
preceding day, I went soon to rest. After I had 
lain down, the Russians assembled the Indians in a 
very silent manner, and said prayers after the man- 
ner of the Greek church, which is much like the 
Roman. I could not but observe with what particu- 
lar satisfaction the Indians performed their devoirs 
to God, through the medium of their little crucifixes, 
and with what pleasure they went through the mul- 
titude of ceremonies attendant on that sort of wor- 
ship. I think it a religion the best calculated in the 
world to gain proselytes, when the people are either 
unwilling or unable to speculate, or when they can- 
not be made acquainted with the history and princi- 
ples of Christianity without a formal education. 

" I had a very comfortable night's rest, and did 
not wake the next morning until late. As soon as 
I was up, I was conducted to a hut a little distance 
from the one I had slept in, where I saw a number 
of platforms raised about three feet from the ground, 
and covered with dry coarse grass and some small 
green bushes. There were several of the Russians 
already here, besides those that conducted me, and 



82 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

several Indians who were heating water in a large 
copper caldron over a furnace, the heat of which, 
and the steam which evaporated from the hot water, 
rendered the hut, which was very tight, extremely 
hot and suffocating. I soon understood this was a 
hot bath, of which I was asked to make use in a 
friendly manner. The apparatus being a little curi- 
ous, I consented to it, but before I had finished 
undressing myself, I was overcome by the sudden 
change of the air, fainted away, and fell back on the 
platform I was sitting on. I was, however, soon 
relieved by having cold and lukewarm water admin- 
istered to my face and different parts of my body. 
I finished undressing, and proceeded as I saw the 
rest do, who were now all undressed. The Indians, 
who served us, brought us, as we set or extended 
ourselves on the platforms, water of different tem- 
peratures, from that which was as hot as we could 
bear to quite cold. The hot water was accompanied 
with some hard soap and a flesh-brush ; it was not 
however thrown on the body from the dish, but 
sprinkled on with the green bushes. After this, the 
water made use of was less warm, and by several 
gradations became at last quite cold, which conclud- 
ed the ceremony. We again dressed and returned 
to our lodgings, where our breakfast was smoking 
on the table ; but the flavor of our feast, as well as 
its appearance, had nearly produced a relapse in 
my spirits, and no doubt would, if I had not had re- 
course to some of the brandy I had brought, which 
happily saved me. I was a good deal uneasy, lest 
the cause of my discomposure should disoblige my 
friends, who meant to treat me in the best manner 
they could. I therefore attributed my illness to the 
bath, which might possibly have partly occasioned 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 83 

it, for I am not very subject to fainting. I could 
eat none of the breakfast, however, though far from 
wanting an appetite. It was mostly of whale, sea- 
horse, and bear, which, though smoked, dried, and 
boiled, produced a composition of smells very offen- 
sive at nine or ten in the morning. I therefore 
desired I might have a piece of smoked salmon 
broiled dry, which I ate with some of my own bis- 
cuit. 

" After breakfast I intended to set off on my re- 
turn to the ships, though there came on a disagreea- 
ble snow storm. But my new-found friends objected 
to it, and gave me to understand, that I should go 
the next day, and if I chose, three of them would 
accompany me. This I immediately agreed to, as 
it anticipated a favor I intended to ask them, though 
I before much doubted whether they would comply 
with it. I amused myself within doors, while it 
snowed without, by writing down a few words of the 
original languages of the American Indians, and of 
the Asiatics, who came over to this coast with these 
Russians from Kamtschatka. 

" In the afternoon the weather cleared up, and I 
went out to see how those Russian adventurers were 
situated. I found the whole village to contain about 
thirty huts, all of which were built partly under 
ground, and covered with turf at the bottom, and 
coarse grass at the top. The only circumstance that 
can recommend them is their warmth, which is oc- 
casioned partly by their manner of construction, and 
partly by a kind of oven, in which they constantly 
keep a fire night and day. They sleep on platforms 
built on each side of the hut, on which they have a 
number of bear and other skins, which render them 
comfortable ; and as they have been educated in a 



84 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

hardy manner, they need little or no other support, 
than what they procure from the sea and from hunt- 
ing. The number of Russians was about thirty, 
and they had with them about seventy Kamtscha- 
dales, or Indians from Kamtschatka. These, with 
some of the American Indians, whom they had 
entered into friendship with, occupied the village, 
enjoyed every benefit in common with the Russians, 
and were converts to their religion. Such other of 
the Aborigines of the island, as had not become con- 
verts to their sentiments in religious and civil matters, 
were excluded from such privileges, and were pro- 
hibited from wearing certain arms. 

" I also found a small sloop, of about thirty tons 
burthen, lying in a cove behind the village, and a hut 
near her, containing her sails, cordage, and other 
sea equipage, and one old iron three-pounder. It is 
natural to an ingenuous mind, when it enters a town, 
a house, or ship, that has been rendered famous by 
any particular event, to feel the full force of that 
pleasure, which results from gratifying a noble curi- 
osity. I was no sooner informed, that this sloop was 
the same in which the famous Bering had performed 
those discoveries, which did him so much honor, 
and his country such great service, than I was deter- 
mined to go on board of her, and indulge the gene- 
rous feelings the occasion inspired. I intimated my 
wishes to the man that accompanied me, who went 
back to the village, and brought a canoe, in which 
we went on board, where I remained about an hour, 
and then returned. This little bark belonged to 
Kamtschatka, and came from thence with the Asiat- 
ics already mentioned, to this island, which they 
called Onalaska, in order to establish a pelt and 
fur factory. They had been here about five years, 



L 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 35 

and go over to Kamtschatka in her once a year to 
deliver their merchandise, and get a recruit of such 
supplies as they need from the chief factory there, 
of which I shall take further notice hereafter. 

" The next day I set off from this village, well 
satisfied with the happy issue of a tour, which was 
now as agreeable as it was at first undesirable. I 
was accompanied by three of the principal Russians, 
and some attendants. We embarked at the village 
in a large skin boat, much like our large whale- 
boats, rowing with twelve oars ; and as we struck 
directly across the bay, we shortened our distance 
several miles, and the next day, passing the same 
village I had before been at, we arrived by sunset at 
the bay where the ships lay, and before dark I got 
on board with our new acquaintances. The satis- 
faction this discovery gave Cook, and the honor 
that redounded to me, may be easily imagined, and 
the several conjectures respecting the appearance 
of a foreign intercourse were rectified and con- 
firmed." 

Such other researches, as could be pursued at that 
season, having been made at Onalaska, and along 
the coast, Cook left the continent and shaped his 
course for the Sandwich Islands. Two months' 
sailing brought him in view of one of the group, not 
discovered on his voyage to the north, called by the 
natives Owhyhee, or Hawyhee, as Ledyard writes 
it, or Hawaii, according to the modern orthography 
of the missionaries.* As our traveller is more 



* It is to be observed, that the sound expressed by Ledyard's 
orthography, and that of the missionaries, is exactly the same, he 
preserving the English sounds of the vowels, and they adopting 
the Italian. 



86 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

minute in his description of the events that happened 
at this island, and particularly in his account of the 
death of Captain Cook, than most narrators, and as 
he describes only what came within his own knowl- 
edge, it may be worth while to dwell a little upon 
these topics. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 87 



CHAPTER V. 

The ships anchored in Kearakekua bay. — First interview with the 
natives. — Reverence with which they regarded Cook. — Tents 
erected for astronomical observations. — Ceremonies at the meet- 
ing of Cook with the old king. — Ledyard forms the project of 
ascending the high mountain in Hawaii, called by the natives 
Mouna Roa. — Description of his ascent, and cause of his ulti- 
mate failure. — The natives begin to show symptoms of uneasiness 
at the presence of the strangers, and to treat them with disre- 
spect. — Offended at the encroachment made on their Morai. — 
Cook departs from Kearakekua bay, but is compelled to return 
by a heavy storm, that overtakes him, and injures his ships. — 
Natives receive him coldly. — They steal one of the ship's boats, 
which Cook endeavours to recover. — Goes on shore for the pur- 
pose. — Is there attacked by the natives and slain. — Ledyard 
accompanied him on shore, and was near his person when 
killed. — His description of the event. — Expedition sails for 
Kamtschatka, explores again the Polar seas, and returns to Eng- 
land. — Ledyard's opinions respecting the first peopling of the 
South Sea Islands. — Other remarks relating to this subject, 
founded on the analogy of languages and manners of the peo- 
ple. — Characteristics of Ledyard's journal. — Estimation in which 
he held Captain Cook. 

The ships were several days among the islands, 
sailing in different directions, before a harbour was 
discovered, in which they could anchor with safety, 
and where water and provisions could be procured. 
At length they entered a commodious bay on the 
south side of Hawaii, extending inland about two 
miles and a half, having the town of Kearakekua on 
one side, and Kiverua on the other. These towns 
contained fourteen hundred houses. The crowds of 
people that nocked to the shore, as the vessels sailed 
in and came to anchor, were prodigious. They had 
assembled from the interior and the coast. Three 
thousand canoes were counted in the bay, filled with 
men, women, and children, to the number of at least 
fifteen thousand, besides others that were swimming 



88 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

and sustaining themselves on floats in the water. 
The scene was animated and grotesque in the ex- 
treme. " The beach, the surrounding rocks, the 
tops of houses, the branches of trees, and the adja- 
cent hills were all covered ; and the shouts of joy 
and admiration, proceeding from the sonorous voices 
of the men, confused with the shriller exclamations 
of the women dancing and clapping their hands, the 
oversetting of canoes, cries of the children, goods 
afloat, and hogs that were brought to market squeal- 
ing, formed one of the most curious prospects, that 
can be imagined." But amidst this immense con- 
course, all was peace, harmony, hilarity, and good 
nature. Many of the natives were contented to 
gaze and wonder ; others, by their noise and ac- 
tions, gave more imposing demonstrations of their 
joy and admiration ; while others were busy in 
bartering away hogs, sweet potatoes, and such pro- 
visions as they had, for articles that pleased their 
fancy. 

Cook's first visit to the shore was attended with a 
good deal of ceremony. Two chiefs, with long 
white poles as ensigns of their authority, made a 
passage among the canoes for his pinnace, and the 
people, as he was rowed along covered their faces 
with their hands. When he landed, they fell pros- 
trate on the beach before him, and a new set of offi- 
cers opened a way for him through the crowd. The 
same expressions of awe were manifested, as he 
proceeded from the water's edge. " The people 
upon the adjacent hills, upon the houses, on the 
stone walls, and in the tops of the trees, also hid 
their faces, while he passed along the opening, but 
he had no sooner passed them, than they rose and 
followed him. But if Cook happened to turn his 



._... 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 89 

head, or look behind him, they were down again in 
an instant, and up again as soon whenever his face 
was reverted to some other quarter. This punctil- 
ious performance of respect in so vast a throng, 
being regulated solely by the accidental turn of one 
man's head, and the transition being sudden and 
short, rendered it very difficult even for an individual 
to be in proper attitude. If he lay prostrate but a 
second too long, he was pretty sure not to rise again 
until he had been trampled upon by all behind him, 
and if he dared not to prostrate himself, he would 
stumble over those before him who did. This pro- 
duced a great many laughable circumstances, and as 
Cook walked very fast to get from the sand into the 
shades of the town, it rendered the matter still more 
difficult. At length, however, they adopted a medi- 
um, that much better answered a running compli- 
ment, and did not displease the chiefs ; this was to 
go upon all fours, which was truly ludicrous among 
at least ten thousand people." This confusion ceas- 
ed, however, before long, for Cook was conducted 
to the Moral, a sacred enclosure, which none but 
the chiefs and their attendants were allowed to enter. 
Here he was unmolested, and the presents were dis- 
tributed. 

His first object was to procure a situation on shore 
to erect tents, and fit up the astronomical instru- 
ments. A suitable spot was granted, on condition 
that none of the seamen should leave the place after 
sunset, and with a stipulation on the part of the 
chiefs, that none of their people should enter it by 
night. To make this effectual, the ground was 
marked out by white rods, and put under the restric- 
tion of the tabu, which no native dared violate, 
being restrained by the superstitious fear of offend- 



90 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

ing the atuas, or invisible spirits of the island. This 
caution surprised Cook a little, as he had not wit- 
nessed it among the natives of the other South Sea 
islands. It appeared reasonable, and he consented 
to it, not foreseeing the mischiefs to which it would 
ultimately lead. Ledyard considers it the origin of 
all the disasters that followed. Restrictions were 
imposed, which could not be enforced ; they were 
violated secretly at first, then with less reserve, and 
at last openly. The men in the tents were the first 
to transgress, by going abroad contrary to the agree- 
ment. The native women were tempted by them 
to pass over the prescribed limits, although they 
shuddered at the apprehension of the consequences, 
which might follow such a disregard of the tabu. 
When they found, however, that no harm came upon 
them from the enraged atuas, their fears by degrees 
subsided. This intercourse was not such, as to raise 
the Europeans in the estimation of the islanders. 
It was begun by stealth, and prosecuted in violation 
of the sacred injunction of the tabu, and as no 
measures were taken to prevent it, the chiefs natu- 
rally considered it an infraction of the agreement. 
Ledyard was himself stationed on shore with a guard 
of marines to protect the tents, and enjoyed the best 
opportunity for seeing and knowing what passed in 
that quarter. 

Harmony, and a good understanding among all 
parties, prevailed for several days. Cook went 
through the ceremony of being anointed with cocoa- 
nut oil by one of the chief priests, and of listening 
to a speech half an hour in length, on the occasion, 
from the same high dignitary. When Teraiobu, the 
king, a feeble old man, returned from one of the 
other islands, where he had been on a visit, there 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 91 

was another ceremony, conducted with great form, 
at his meeting with Cook. Entertainments suc- 
ceeded, and good cheer and good humor were seen 
everywhere. Cook first invited Teraiobu and his 
chiefs on board to dinner. They were temperate, 
drinking water only, and eating but little. The old 
king satisfied himself entirely with bread-fruit and 
water, but the young chiefs comprised in their repast 
the luxury of pork and fowls. They all went away 
well pleased, and the king invited Cook to dine with 
him the next day at his royal residence. The invi- 
tation was accepted ; and when the hour came, the 
navigator and his officers were sumptuously feasted 
on baked hog and potatoes, neatly spread out on 
green plantain leaves, and for beverage they were 
supplied with cocoa-nut milk. The day was closed 
with gymnastic exercises, wrestling and boxing, 
ordered by the old king for the amusement of his 
guests. On the next evening Cook in his turn ex- 
hibited fireworks on shore, much to the amazement 
of the beholders, who had never before seen such a 
display. Many laughable incidents occurred. When 
the first sky-rocket was discharged, the multitude 
was seized with the greatest consternation. Cook 
and his officers " could hardly hold the old feeble 
Teraiobu, and some elderly ladies of quality that 
sat among them ; and before they had recovered 
from this paroxysm, nearly the whole host, that a 
moment before surrounded them, had fled." Some 
were too much frightened to return any more, but 
others came back as their fears abated, and had the 
courage to keep their ground through the remainder 
of the exhibition. 

Thus all things were proceeding, as Ledyard ex- 
presses it, " in the old Otaheite style ; " the visiters 



92 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

and the islanders were mutually pleased with each 
other, kind offices were reciprocated, abundant stores 
of provisions were carried on board, and prospects 
were favorable. 

While affairs were in this train, Ledyard formed 
the design of ascending the high peak, which rises 
from the centre of the island, and is called by the 
natives Mouna Roa. Although this mountain stands 
on an island only ninety miles in diameter, yet it is 
one of the highest in the world. Its elevation has 
been estimated to be about eighteen thousand feet, 
and its summit is usually covered with snow. From 
his station at the tents, Ledyard sent a note on board 
the Resolution to Captain Cook, asking permission 
to make this jaunt, for the double purpose of explor- 
ing the interior, and, if possible, climbing to the top 
of the mountain. The request was granted. The 
botanist, and the gunner of the Resolution, were 
deputed by the commander to accompany him. 
Natives were also engaged to carry the baggage, 
and serve as guides through the woods. A tropical 
sun was then pouring its rays on them at the bay of 
Kearakekua, but the snows visible on the peak of 
Mouna Roa warned them to provide additional 
clothing, and guard against the effects of a sudden 
transition from heat to cold. The party at length 
set off. On first leaving the town, their route lay 
through enclosed plantations of sweet potatoes, with 
a soil of lava, tilled in some places with difficulty. 
Now and then a patch of sugar-cane was seen in a 
moist place. Next came the open plantations, con- 
sisting chiefly of bread-fruit trees, and the land began 
to ascend more abruptly. 

" We continued up the ascent," he writes, "to the 
distance of a mile and a half further, and found the 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 93 

land thick covered with wild fern, among which our 
botanist found a new species. It was now near sun- 
set, and being upon the skirts of these woods, that 
so remarkably surrounded this island at a uniform 
distance of four or five miles from the shore, we 
concluded to halt, especially as there was a hut hard 
by, that would afford us a better retreat during 
the night, than what we might expect if we pro- 
ceeded. When we reached the hut, we found it 
inhabited by an elderly man, his wife, and daughter, 
the emblem of innocent, uninstructed beauty. They 
were somewhat discomposed at our appearance and 
equipment, and would have left their house through 
fear, had not the Indians, who accompanied us, per- 
suaded them otherwise, and at last reconciled them 
to us. . We sat down together before the door, and 
from the height of the situation we had a complete 
retrospective view of our route, of the town, of part 
of the bay, and one'of our ships, besides an exten- 
sive prospect on the ocean, and a distant view of 
three of the neighbouring islands. 

" As we had proposed remaining at this hut 
through the night, and were willing to preserve what 
provisions we had ready dressed, we purchased a 
little pig, and had him dressed by our host, who, 
finding his account in his visitants, bestirred himself 
and soon had it ready. After supper we had some 
of our brandy diluted with the mountain water ; and 
we had so long been confined to the poor brackish 
water at the bay below, that it was a kind of nectar 
to us. As soon as the sun was set, we found a con- 
siderable difference in the state of the air. At night 
a heavy dew fell, and we felt it very chilly, and had 
recourse to our blankets, notwithstanding we were 
in the hut. The next morning, when we came to 



94 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

enter the woods, we found there had been a heavy 
rain, though none of it had approached us, notwith- 
standing we were within two hundred yards of the 
skirts of the forest. And it seemed to be a matter 
of fact, both from the information of the natives and 
our own observations, that neither the rains nor the 
dews descended lower than where the woods ter- 
minated, unless at the equinoxes or some periodical 
conjuncture, by which means the space between the 
woods and the shore is rendered warm, and fit for 
the purposes of culture, and the vegetation of tropic- 
al productions. We traversed these woods by a 
compass, keeping a direct course for the peak, and 
were so happy the first day as to find a footpath that 
tended nearly our due course, by which means we 
travelled by estimation about fifteen miles, and 
though it would have been no extraordinary march, 
had circumstances been different, yet, as we found 
them, we thought it a very great one j for it was not 
only excessively miry and rough, but the way was 
mostly an ascent, and we had been unused to walk- 
ing, and especially to carrying such loads as we had. 
Our Indian companions were much more fatigued 
than we were, though they had nothing to carry, 
and, what displeased us very much, would not carry 
anything. Our botanical researches delayed us 
somewhat. The sun had not set when we halted, 
yet meeting with a situation that pleased us, and not 
being limited as to time, we spent the remaining 
part of the day as humor dictated, some in botaniz- 
ing, and those who had fowling-pieces with them in 
shooting. For my part I could not but think the 
present appearance of our encampment claimed a 
part of our attention, and therefore set about some 
alterations and amendments. It was the trunk of a 



J 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 95 

tree, that had fallen by the side of the path, and lay 
with one end transversely over another tree, that 
had fallen before in an opposite direction, and as it 
measured twenty-two feet in circumference, and lay 
four feet from the ground, it afforded a very good 
shelter except at the sides, which defect I supplied 
by large pieces of bark, and a good quantity of 
boughs, which rendered it very commodious. We 
slept through the night under it much better than we 
had done the preceding, notwithstanding there was 
a heavy dew, and the air cold. 

" The next morning we set out in good spirits, 
hoping that day to reach the snowy peak ; but we 
had not gone a mile, before the path, that had 
hitherto so much facilitated our progress, began not 
only to take a direction southward of west, but had 
been so little frequented as to be almost effaced. 
In this situation we consulted our Indian convoy, 
but to no purpose. We then advised among our- 
selves, and at length concluded to proceed by the 
nearest route without any beaten track, and went in 
this manner about four miles further, finding the way 
even more steep and rough, than we had yet expe- 
rienced, but above all impeded by such impenetrable 
thickets, as to render it impossible for us to proceed 
any further. We therefore abandoned our design, 
and returning in our own track, reached the retreat 
we had improved the last night, having been the 
whole day in walking only about ten miles, and we 
had been very assiduous too. We found the country 
here, as well as at the seashore, universally over- 
spread with lava, and also saw several subterranean 
excavations, that had every appearance of past erup- 
tion and fire. Our botanist to-day met with great 
success, and we had also shot a number of fine birds 



96 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

of the liveliest and most variegated plumage, that 
any of us had ever met with, but we heard no melo- 
dy among them. Except these we saw no other 
kind of birds but the screechowl ; neither did we 
see any kind of quadruped, but we caught several 
curious insects. The woods here are thick and 
luxuriant, the largest trees being nearly thirty feet in 
the girth, and these with the shrubbery underneath, 
and the whole intersected with vines, render it very 
umbrageous. 

" The next day, about two in the afternoon, we 
cleared the woods by our old route, and by six 
o'clock reached the tents, having penetrated about 
twenty-four miles, and, we supposed, within eleven 
of the peak. Our Indians were extremely fatigued, 
though they had no baggage."* 

Were we to follow the author closely in his narra- 
tive, we should here introduce his description of the 
island of Hawaii, and of the various subjects that 
attracted his notice. He speaks of the geological 
structure of the island, its soil, productions, climate, 
and animals ; the customs of the natives, their su- 
perstitions, government, and criminal offences ; their 
way of living, and the remarkable differences be- 
tween them and other islanders of the South Sea. 
On some of these topics his remarks are original 
and striking, but we must pass over them, and hast- 
en to particulars of higher interest. 

Before two weeks had expired, the natives began 
to show symptoms of uneasiness at the presence of 



* This mountain was never ascended to the top till very recent- 
ly. Mr Goodrich, one of the American missionaries on the island, 
was the first person who persevered in reaching the summit. He 
ascended on a side of the mountain nearly opposite to that, where 
Ledyard made the attempt. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 97 

the foreigners, and to treat them with diminished 
respect. In truth, very little pains were taken to 
preserve their good opinion, or to keep alive their 
kind feelings ; and one untoward event after another 
was perpetually occurring to lessen the admiration, 
which novelty had excited, and to alienate them 
from their newly made friends. Ledyard mentions 
several incidents of this description, which are not 
alluded to in the authorized account of Cook's last 
voyage. Some of them, probably, were not known 
to the writer, and others were omitted from motives 
of policy, as being rather evidences of neglect or 
injudicious management, than of cautious or discreet 
measures. The natives first began to practise 
slight insults, which seemed to proceed rather from 
a mischievous than a malignant temper. The mas- 
ter's mate was ordered to take on board the rudder 
of the Resolution, which had been sent ashore for 
repairs. It was too heavy for his men to remove, 
and he asked the natives to assist them. Fifty or 
sixty immediately caught hold of the rope attached 
to the rudder, and began to pull. But whether in 
sport, or by design, they caused only embarrassment 
and disorder. " This exasperated the mate, and he 
struck two or three of them, which being observed 
by a chief that was present, he interposed. The 
mate haughtily told the chief to order his people to 
assist him, and the chief as well as the people, having 
no intention but of showing their disregard and 
scorn, which had long been growing towards us, 
laughed at him, hooted him, and threw stones at him 
and the crew, who taking up some trunnels that were 
lying by, fell upon the Indians, beat many of them 
much, and drove the rest several rods back ; but the 
crowd collecting at a little distance, formed, and be- 
9 



98 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

gan to use abusive language, challenge our people, 
and throw stones, some of which came into our en- 
campment." Ledyard's guard of marines was 
ordered out, " at least to make a show of resent- 
ment," and the commanding officer at the tents went 
out himself to quell the disturbance ; but they were 
all pelted with stones, and retired, leaving the field 
to the natives till night, when the rudder was taken 
on board. 

" Instances of this kind, though of less apparent 
importance, had happened several times before this 
on shore ; but on board hardly a day passed after 
the first week, that did not produce some petty dis- 
turbance in one or both of the ships, and they chief- 
ly proceeded from thefts perpetrated by the natives 
in a manner little short of robbery. Cook and 
Teraiobu were fully employed in adjusting and com- 
promising these differences, and as there was really 
,a reciprocal disinterested regard between him and 
this good old man, it tended much to facilitate these 
amicable negotiations. But in the midst of these 
measures, Cook was insensible of the daily decline 
of his greatness and importance in the estimation of 
the natives ; nay, so confident was he, and so secure 
in the opposite opinion, that on the fourth of Februa- 
ry he came to Kearakekua, with his boats, to pur- 
chase and carry off the fence round the Morai, which 
he wanted to wood the ships with. When he land- 
ed, he sent for the Priest Kikinny, and some other 
chiefs, and offered them two iron hatchets for the 
fence. The chiefs were astonished, not only at 
the inadequate price, but at the proposal, and refus- 
ed him. 

" Cook was as much chagrined as they were sur- 
prised, and, not meeting with the easy acquiescence 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 99 

he expected to his requisitions, gave immediate 
orders to his people to ascend the Morai, break down 
the fence, and load the boats with it, leading the 
way himself to enforce his orders. The poor dis- 
mayed chiefs, dreading his displeasure, which they 
saw approaching, followed him upon the Morai to 
behold the fence that enclosed the mansions of their 
noble ancestors, and the images of their gods, torn 
to pieces by a handful of rude strangers, without the 
power, or at least without the resolution, of opposing 
their sacrilegious depredations. When Cook had 
ascended the Morai, he once more offered the 
hatchets to the chiefs. It was a very unequal price, 
if the honest chiefs would have accepted of the 
bribe ; and Cook offered it only to evade the impu- 
tation of taking their property without payment. 
The chiefs again refused it. Cook then added an- 
other hatchet, and, kindling into resentment, told 
them to take it or nothing. Kikinny, to whom the 
offer was made, turned pale, and trembled as he 
stood, but still refused. Cook thrust them into his 
garment, that was folded round him, and left him 
immediately to hasten the execution of his orders. 
As for Kikinny, he turned to some of his menials, 
and made them take the hatchets out of his garment, 
not, touching them himself. By this time a con- 
siderable concourse of the natives had assembled 
under the walls of the Morai, where we were throw- 
ing the wood down, and were very outrageous, and 
even threw the wood and images back as we threw 
them down ; and I cannot think what prevented them 
from proceeding to greater lengths 5 however, it so 
happened that we got the whole into the boats, and 
safely on board." 

This story is told differently by Captain King, 



100 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

who wrote that part of Cook's Third Voyage, which 
relates to the Sandwich Islands. As he represents 
it, no objection was made to the proposal for taking 
away the enclosure of wood, that surrounded the 
Moral, and even the images were tumbled down 
and carried off, under the eyes of the priests, with- 
out any resistance or disapprobation on their part. 
This would seem improbable. The Morai was the 
depositary of the dead, a place where the images of 
the gods were kept, and solemn ceremonies per- 
formed. It is not easy to reconcile the two accounts ; 
but Ledyard was employed with others in removing 
the fence, and he manifestly describes what he saw. 
He may not have been so well acquainted with the 
manner and conditions of the purchase, as Captain 
King, yet in the detail of occurrences in which he 
was engaged, and their effects on the people around 
him, it is hardly possible that he should have been 
mistaken. Again, he writes, 

" On the evening of the fifth we struck our tents, 
and everything was taken on board, and it was 
manifestly much to the satisfaction of the natives. 
A little after dark an old house, that stood on a cor- 
ner of the Morai, took fire and burnt down ; this we 
supposed was occasioned by our people's carelessly 
leaving their fire near it, but this was not the case. 
The natives burnt it themselves, to show us the re- 
sentment they entertained towards us, on account of 
our using it without their consent, and indeed mani- 
festly against it. We had made a sail-loft of one 
part of it, and an hospital for our sick of the other, 
though it evidently was esteemed by the natives as 
holy as the rest of the Morai, and ought to have 
been considered so by us." 

They had now been nineteen days in Kearakekua 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. \Q\ 

bay ; the ships had been repaired, the seamen re- 
cruited after their long toils, provisions for several 
months laid in, and nothing more was wanting to 
enable them to go again to sea, but a supply of 
water. This was not to be had at Kearakekua, ex- 
cept of a brackish quality, and it was resolved to 
search for it on some of the other islands. For this 
object the vessels were unmoored, and sailed out of 
the harbour. No sooner had they got to sea, than a 
violent gale came on, which lasted three days and 
injured so seriously the Resolution's foremast, that 
Cook was compelled to return speedily to his old 
anchorage ground and make repairs. Our voyager 
is so circumstantial in his account from this point, till 
the tragical death of Captain Cook, that I shall not 
mar his narrative by curtailing it. The only thing 
necessary to be premised is, that he was one of the 
small party, who landed with the unfortunate navi- 
gator on the morning of his death, and was near him 
during the fatal contest, although this does not ap- 
pear from his own statement. 

" Our return to this bay was as disagreeable to us, 
as it was to the inhabitants, for we were reciprocally 
tired of each other. They had been oppressed, and 
were weary of our prostituted alliance, and we were 
aggrieved by the consideration of wanting the pro- 
visions and refreshments of the country, which we 
had every reason to suppose, from their behaviour 
antecedent to our departure, would now be withheld 
from us, or brought in such small quantities as to be 
worse than none. What we anticipated was true. 
When we entered the bay, where before we had the 
shouts of thousands to welcome our arrival, we had 
the mortification not to see a single canoe, and hard- 
ly any inhabitants in the towns. Cook was chagrined, 
9* 



102 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

and his people were soured. Towards night, how- 
ever, the canoes came in, but the provisions both in 
quantity and quality plainly informed us, that times 
were altered ; and what was very remarkable was the 
exorbitant price they asked, and the particular fancy 
they all at once took to iron daggers or dirks, which 
were the only articles that were any ways current, 
with the chiefs at least. It was also equally evident 
from the looks of the natives, as well as every other 
appearance, that our former friendship was at an 
end, and that we had nothing to do but to hasten our 
departure to some different island, where our vices 
were not known, and where our extrinsic virtues 
might gain us another short space of being wondered 
at, and doing as we pleased, or, as our tars express- 
ed it, of being happy by the month. 

" Nor was their passive appearance of disgust all 
we had to fear, nor did it continue long. Before 
dark a canoe with a number of armed chiefs came 
along-side of us without provisions, and indeed with- 
out any perceptible design. After staying a short 
time only, they went to the Discovery, where a part 
of them went on board. Here they affected great 
friendship, and unfortunately overacting it, Clerke 
was suspicious, and ordered two sentinels on the 
gangways. These men were purposely sent by the 
chief, who had formerly been so very intimate with 
Clerke, and afterwards so ill treated by him, with the 
charge of stealing his jolly-boat. They came with 
a determination of mischief, and effected it. After 
they were all returned to the canoe but one, they got 
their paddles and everything ready for a start. 
Those in the canoes, observing the sentry to be 
watchful, took off his attention by some conversation, 
that they knew would be pleasing to him, and by 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. JQ3 

this means favored the designs of the man on board, 
who watching his opportunity snatched two pairs of 
tongs, and other iron tools that then lay close by the 
armorers at work at the forge, and mounting the 
gangway-rail, with one leap threw himself and his 
goods into the canoe, that was then upon the move, 
and, taking up his paddle, joined the others ; and 
standing directly for the shore, they were out of our 
reach almost instantaneously, even before a musket 
could be had from the arms-chest to fire at them. 
The sentries had only hangers. This was the bold- 
est exploit that had yet been attempted, and had a 
bad aspect. Clerke immediately sent to the com- 
modore, who advised him to send a boat on shore to 
endeavuor at least to regain the goods, if they could 
not the men who took them ; but the errand was as 
ill executed as contrived, and the master of the Dis- 
covery was glad to return with a severe drubbing 
from the very chief, who had been so maltreated by 
Clerke. The crew were also pelted with stones, 
and had all their oars broken, and they had not a 
single weapon in the boat, not even a cutlass, to de- 
fend themselves. When Cook heard of this, he 
went armed himself in person to the guard on shore, 
took a file of marines and went through the whole 
town demanding restitution, and threatening the de- 
linquents and their abettors with the severest punish- 
ments ; but not being able to effect anything, he 
came off just at sunset highly displeased, and not a 
little concerned at the bad appearance of things. 
But even this was nothing to what followed. 

" On the thirteenth, at night, the Discovery's 
large cutter, which was at her usual moorings at the 
bower buoy, was taken away. On the fourteenth 
the captains met to consult what should be done on 



104 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

this alarming occasion ; and the issue of their opin- 
ions was, that one of the two captains should land 
with armed boats and a guard of marines at Kiverua, 
and attempt to persuade Teraiobu, who was then at 
his house in that town, to come on board upon a 
visit, and that when he was on board he should be 
kept prisoner, until his subjects should release him 
by a restitution of the cutter ; and if it was after- 
wards thought proper, he, or some of the family 
who might accompany him, should be kept as per- 
petual hostages for the good behaviour of the people, 
during the remaining part of our continuance at 
Kearakekua. This plan was the more approved of 
by Cook, as he had so repeatedly on former occa- 
sions to the southward employed it with success. 
Clerke was then in a deep decline of his health, and 
too feeble to undertake the affair, though it naturally 
devolved upon him, as a point of duty not well trans- 
ferable ; he therefore begged Cook to oblige him so 
much, as to take that part of the business of the day 
upon himself in his stead. This Cook agreed to, 
but previous to his landing, made some additional 
arrangements, respecting the possible event of things, 
though it is certain from the appearance of the sub- 
sequent arrangements, that he guarded more against 
the flight of Teraiobu, or those he could wish to see, 
than from an attack, or even much insult. The 
disposition of our guards, when the movements be- 
gan, was thus. Cook in his pinnace with six private 
marines ; a corporal, sergeant, and two lieutenants 
of marines went ahead, followed by the launch with 
other marines and seamen on one quarter, and the 
small cutter on the other, with only the crew on 
board. This part of the guard rowed for Kearake- 
kua. Our large cutter and two boats from the 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 105 

Discovery had orders to proceed to the mouth of the 
bay, form at equal distances across, and prevent any 
communication by water from any other part of the 
island to the towns within the bay, or from those 
without. Cook landed at Kiverua about nine o'clock 
in the morning, with the marines in the pinnace, and 
went by a circuitous march to the house of Teraio- 
bu, in order to evade the suspicion of any design. 
This route lead through a considerable part of the 
town, which discovered every symptom of mischief, 
though Cook, blinded by some fatal cause, could 
not perceive it, or too self-confident, would not re- 
gard it. 

" The town was evacuated by the women and 
children, who had retired to the circumjacent hills, 
and appeared almost destitute of men ; but there 
were at that time two hundred chiefs, and more than 
twice that number of other men, detached and se- 
creted in different parts of the houses nearest to 
Teraiobu, exclusive of unknown numbers without 
the skirts of the town ; and those that were seen 
were dressed many of them in black. When the 
guard reached Teraiobu's house, Cook ordered the 
lieutenant of marines to go in and see if he was at 
home, and if he was, to bring him out ; the lieu- 
tenant went in, and found the old man sitting with 
two or three old women of distinction ; and when he 
gave Teraiobu to understand that Cook was without, 
and wanted to see him, he discovered the greatest 
marks of uneasiness, but arose and accompanied the 
lieutenant out, holding his hand. When he came 
before Cook, he squatted down upon his hams as a 
mark of humiliation, and Cook took him by the 
hand from the lieutenant, and conversed with him. 

" The appearance of our parade both by water 



106 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

and On shore, though conducted with the utmost 
silence, and with as little ostentation as possible, had 
alarmed the towns on both sides of the bay, but 
particularly Kiverua, where the people were in com- 
plete order for an onset ; otherwise it would have 
been a matter of surprise, that though Cook did not 
see twenty men in passing through the town, yet be- 
fore he had conversed ten minutes with Teraiobu, 
he was surrounded by three or four hundred people, 
and above half of them chiefs. Cook grew uneasy 
when he observed this, and was the more urgent in 
his persuasions with Teraiobu to go on board, and 
actually persuaded the old man to go at length, and 
led him within a rod or two of the shore ; but the 
just fears and conjectures of the chiefs at last inter- 
posed. They held the old man back, and one of 
the chiefs threatened Cook, when he attempted to 
make them quit Teraiobu. Some of the crowd now 
cried out, that Cook was going to take their king 
from them and kill him, and there was one in par- 
ticular that advanced towards Cook in an attitude 
that alarmed one of the guard, who presented his 
bayonet and opposed him, acquainting Cook in the 
mean time of the danger of his situation, and that 
the Indians in a few minutes would attack him ; that 
he had overheard the man, whom he had just stop- 
ped from rushing in upon him, say that our boats 
which were out in the harbour had just killed his 
brother, and he would be revenged. Cook attended 
to what this man said, and desired him to show him 
the Indian, that had dared to attempt a combat with 
him, and as soon as he was pointed out, Cook fired 
at him with a blank. The Indian, perceiving he re- 
ceived no damage from the fire, rushed from without 
the crowd a second time, and threatened any one 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 107 

that should oppose him. Cook, perceiving this, fired 
a ball, which entering the Indian's groin, he fell and 
was drawn off by the rest. 

" Cook perceiving the people determined to op- 
pose his designs, and that he should not succeed 
without further bloodshed, ordered the lieutenant of 
marines, Mr. Phillips, to withdraw his men and get 
them into the boats, which were then lying ready to 
receive them. This was effected by the sergeant - 7 
but the instant they began to retreat, Cook was hit 
with a stone, and perceiving the man who threw it, 
shot him dead. The officer in the boats observing 
the guard retreat, and hearing this third discharge, 
ordered the boats to fire. This occasioned the guard 
to face about and fire, and then the attack became 
general. Cook and Mr Phillips were together a 
few paces in the rear of the guard, and, perceiving 
a general fire without orders, quitted Teraiobu, and 
ran to the shore to put a stop to it, but not being 
able to make themselves heard, and being close 
pressed upon by the chiefs, they joined the guard, 
who fired as they retreated. Cook, having at length 
reached the margin of the water, between the fire 
of the boats, waved with his hat for them to cease 
firing and come in ; and while he was doing this, a 
chief from behind stabbed him with one of our iron 
daggers, just under the shoulder-blade, and it passed 
quite through his body. Cook fell with his face in 
the water, and immediately expired. Mr Phillips, 
not being able anv longer to use his fusee, drew 
his sword, and engaging the chief whom he saw 
kill Cook, soon despatched him. His guard in 
the mean time were all killed but two, and they had 
plunged into the water, and were swimming to the 
boats. He stood thus for some time the butt of all 



108 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

their force, and being as complete in the use of his 
sword, as he was accomplished, his noble achieve- 
ments struck the barbarians with awe ; but being 
wounded, and growing faint from loss of blood and 
excessive action, he plunged into the sea with his 
sword in his hand and swam to the boats ; where, 
however, he was scarcely taken on board, before 
somebody saw one of the marines, that had swum 
from the shore, lying flat upon the bottom. Phillips, 
hearing this, ran aft, threw himself in after him, and 
brought him up with him to the surface of the water, 
and both were taken in. 

" The boats had hitherto kept up a very hot fire, 
and, lying off without the reach of any weapon but 
stones, had received no damage, and, being fully at 
leisure to keep up an unremitted and uniform action, 
made great havoc among the Indians, particularly 
among the chiefs, who stood foremost in the crowd 
and were most exposed ; but whether it was from 
their bravery, or ignorance of the real cause that 
deprived so many of them of life, that they made 
such a stand, may be questioned, since it is certain 
that they in general, if not universally, understood 
heretofore, that it was the fire only of our arms that 
destroyed them. This opinion seems to be strength- 
ened by the circumstance of the large, thick mats, 
they were observed to Wear, which were also con- 
stantly kept wet ; and, furthermore, the Indian that 
Cook fired at with a blank discovered no fear, when 
he found his mat unburnt, saying in their language, 
when he showed it to the by-standers, that no fire 
had touched it. This may be supposed at least to 
have had some influence. It is, however, certain, 
whether from one or both these causes, that the num- 
bers that fell made no apparent impression on those 



LIFE OF JOHN LED YARD. 109 

who survived ; they were immediately taken off, 
and had their places supplied in a constant suc- 
cession. 

" Lieutenant Gore, who commanded as first 
lieutenant under Cook in the Resolution, which lay 
opposite the place where this attack was made, per- 
ceiving with his glass that the guard on shore was 
cut off, and that Cook had fallen, immediately 
passed a spring upon one of the cables, and, bring- 
ing the ship's starboard guns to bear, fired two round 
shot over the boats into the middle of the crowd ; 
and both the thunder of the cannon, and the effects 
of the shot, operated so powerfully, that it pro- 
duced a most precipitate retreat from the shore to 
the town." 

" Our mast that was repairing at Kearakekua, 
and our astronomical tents, were protected only by 
a corporal and six marines, exclusive of the carpen- 
ters at work upon it, and demanded immediate pro- 
tection. As soon, therefore, as the people were 
refreshed with some grog and reinforced, they 
were ordered thither. In the mean time the marine, 
who had been taken up by Mr Phillips, discovered 
returning life, and seemed in a way to recover, and 
we found Mr Phillips's wound not dangerous, though 
very bad. We also observed at Kiverua, that our 
dead were drawn off by the Indians, which was a 
mortifying sight ; but after the boats were gone, 
they did it in spite of our cannon, which were firing 
at them several minutes. They had no sooner ef- 
fected this matter, than they retired to the hills to 
avoid our shot. The expedition to Kiverua had 
taken up about an hour and an half, and we lost, 
besides Cook, a corporal and three marines. 
10 



HO LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

" Notwithstanding the despatch that was used in 
sending a force to Kearakekua, the small party there 
were already attacked before their arrival, but by 
an excellent manoeuvre of taking possession of the 
Morai, they defended themselves without any mate- 
rial damage, until the succours came. The na- 
tives did not attempt to molest the boats in their 
debarkation of our people, which we much won- 
dered at, and they soon joined the others upon the 
Morai, amounting in the whole to about sixty. Mr 
Phillips, notwithstanding his wound, was present, 
and in conjunction with Lieutenant King carried 
the chief command. The plan was to act only de- 
fensively, until we could get our mast into the wa- 
ter, to tow off, and our tents into the boats ; and 
as soon as that was effected, to return on board. 
This we did in about an hour's time, but not with- 
out killing a number of the natives, who resolutely 
attacked us, and endeavoured to mount the walls of 
the Morai, where they were lowest ; but being oppos- 
ed with our skill in such modes of attack, and the 
great superiority of our arms, they were even re- 
pulsed with loss, and at length retreated among the 
houses adjacent to the Morai, which affording a 
good opportunity to retreat to our boats, we embrac- 
ed it, and got off all well. Our mast was taken on 
the booms, and repaired there, though to disadvan- 
tage." 

This account is the more valuable, as having 
been drawn up by one, who had a personal knowl- 
edge of all that passed. Neither Captain King, nor 
Captain Burney, each of whom has described the 
transactions, was on shore with Cook. Nor indeed, 
as hinted above, can it be inferred with certainty 
from anything Ledyard says, that he was in that 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 1 1 1 

part of the fray. But the confidence and particu- 
larity with which he speaks would seem to indicate 
actual observation. We have Captain Burney's 
testimony, moreover, which may be deemed con- 
clusive. He says, that " Cook landed with Lieu- 
tenant Molesworth Phillips of the marines, Sergeant 
Gibson, Corporals Thomas and Ledyard, and six 
private marines, being in the whole eleven per- 
sons."* It follows, that Ledyard must have been 
near Cook from the time he left the ship till he was 
killed, and that he heard and saw distinctly all that 
happened. Four marines were killed, three wound- 
ed, and three escaped unhurt, of which last number 
he was one. 

After this melancholy catastrophe, the ships re- 
mained six days in the harbour, till the defective mast 
was repaired, and a supply of water obtained. This 
latter was effected with difficulty, however, as the 
watering parties were repeatedly assailed by the na- 
tives, and skirmishes ensued. It may well be im- 
agined, therefore, that the hour of departure was 
hailed with joy by all on board. They passed ten 
days more among the islands, and, the water on 
board being bad, a fresh supply was procured at the 
island of Atui. The season being now advanced, 
and everything in readiness, they launched out 
again into the great ocean, pursuing a northerly 
course, with the design of making a second attempt 
to explore the polar regions, in search of a northwest 
passage. In six weeks they approached the shore 
of Kamtschatka, and anchored in the harbour of St 
Peter and St Paul. The result of the expedition 



* Chronological History of Northeastern Voyages of Disco very, 
p. 260. 



112 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

is well known. They passed through Bering's 
Strait, and groped among islands of ice in a high 
latitude, but with no better success, than the year 
before. They touched again at Kamtschatka on 
their return, and, proceeding by the way of Chi- 
na and the Cape of Good Hope, they reached 
England, after an absence of four years and three 
months. 

Many facts and speculations in our traveller's jour- 
nal, not a little curious in themselves, have been 
omitted in the preceding sketch, because they 
would occupy a space not consistent with the na- 
ture or limits of the present memoir. I am tempted, 
however, in this connexion* to quote his remarks on 
the mode in which the South Sea Islands were 
probably first peopled. The subject has since 
been much discussed by philosophers and geogra- 
phers, but no one before him had examined it with 
views so much enlarged by experience and observa- 
tion ; and it is believed he was the first to advance 
the opinion, that the inhabitants of those islands, 
scattered as they are through an ocean of vast ex-, 
tent, " were derived from one common origin." 
Of this he will not allow that there is any room for 
doubt, and the only question is, whether they came 
from Asia or America. Whichever way this ques- 
tion may be answered, there will remain objections 
not easy to be removed, if we attempt to find out a 
resemblance in every peculiarity of character and 
mariners, or to explain obvious differences. He 
does not pretend to solve the problem, but only to 
throw out such hints illustrative of the subject as oc- 
curred to him, and as tend to establish the possibility, 
that an emigration from either of the continents 
might have reached to all the islands, without any 



/ LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. H3 

other means of transportation, than such as the peo- 
ple themselves possessed. 

" The New-Zealanders say their ancestors came 
from an island called Hawyjee ; now Owyhee, as 
we carelessly pronounce it, is pronounced by its in- 
habitants Hawyhee. This is a curious circumstance, 
and admits of a presumption, that the island of Owy- 
hee, or Hawyhee, is the island from which the 
New-Zealanders originally emigrated. It super- 
sedes analogical evidence. But Owyhee is in twen- 
ty north, and New Zealand is in forty south, and 
not above three hundred leagues distant from the 
southern parts of New Holland, and is besides situ- 
ated in the latitudes of variable winds, which admit 
of emigrations from any quarter. On the other 
hand, the languages of Owyhee and New Zealand 
were originally the same, and as much alike as that 
of Otaheite and New Zealand ; not to mention oth- 
er circumstances of the like kind. Whereas the 
languages at New Zealand and New Holland have 
very little or no resemblance to each other. This 
difference, with many others, between New Zea- 
land and New Holland, cannot be reconciled ; but 
the difficulties that may arise from considering the 
distance between New Zealand and Owyhee may 
be, as there are clusters of islands that we know of, 
and there may be others unknown, that occupy, at 
no great distance from each other, the intermediate 
ocean from Owyhee to New Zealand. The obvi- 
ous reasonings, that would be used to conclude the 
New-Zealanders emigrants from Owyhee, would 
be, first, to suppose them from the Friendly Isles, 
then the Society Isles, and then the Sandwich 
Isles ; and the gradation thus formed is very ration- 
al and argumentative, because all their manners and 
10* 



114 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

customs have the same cast. Suppose, then, that 
the islands we have mentioned were peopled from 
Owyhee, and suppose it to be the first island settled, 
the second and ultimate question is, From which of 
the continents, America or Asia ? Its situation re- 
specting America, and the trade winds, strongly- 
intimate from that continent, for it is twice the dis- 
tance from Asia that it is from America ; and a ship, 
fitted for the purpose at China, which is in a paral- 
lel latitude, would be more than two months in 
reaching it, and we must suppose the emigrations 
that respect these people to have been merely fortu- 
itous ; but a canoe, driven by stress of weather from 
the southern part of California, or the coast of New 
Galicia, the opposite parallel, would reach Owyhee 
in a direct course in half the time or less. The 
distance is about nine hundred leagues, and we saw 
people at the island Watteeoo, who had been driven 
from Otaheite there, which is five hundred leagues. 
" But if we suppose Owyhee peopled from South 
America, we shall be somewhat disappointed in sup- 
porting the conjecture by arguments, that respect 
their manners and customs, and those of the Cali- 
fornians, Mexicans, Peruvians, or Chilians. There 
is but a faint analogy, compared with that which we 
should find on the southeastern coasts of Asia in 
these respects. Let us then, without attending to 
the few analogical customs, that subsist between the 
Owyheeans and the South-Americans, reverse our 
system of emigration. Suppose the inhabitants of 
the Sandwich Islands to have come from the Society 
Islands, and those from the Friendly Isles, and the 
New-Zealanders from them ; the inhabitants of the 
Friendly Isles from New Caledonia, from the New 
Hebrides, New Guinea, Celebes, Borneo, Java, or 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. H5 

Sumatra, and finally from the continent at Malacca. 
Supposing the emigration we are now speaking of to 
have taken this course, the most apparent argument 
in its favor is, the proximity of the several islands 
to each other, from the Friendly Isles to the conti- 
nent ; but its sufficiency will abate, if we consider 
emigrations, as I think they are, oftener the effects of 
accident than previous intention ; especially when 
out of sight of land. Besides, it is evident from 
ocular proof, that, though New Guinea and New 
Holland are very near to each other, there has never 
been any intercourse between them ; and yet, from 
many appearances, there seems to have been one 
between New Guinea, the New Hebrides, and the 
Friendly Isles, although farther distant from each 
other. There is indeed no remarkable similarity in 
the people, customs, and manners of New Guinea 
and the Friendly Isles, but an exact conformity be- 
tween the domestic animals and vegetable produc- 
tions of both countries. Some fruits, that we call 
tropical, are peculiar to all places within the tropics ; 
but bread-fruit is nowhere known^ but among these 
islands and the islands further northward on the 
coast of Asia. It is not known at New Holland, but 
it is at New Guinea. Therefore, wherever I can 
find this bread-fruit in particular, I shall suppose an 
intercourse to have once subsisted, and the more so, 
when I find a correspondent agreement between the 
animals of different places; and it ought to be re- 
membered also, that there are no other animals 
-throughout those islands, unless they are near the 
continent ; those remote islands have no other. It 
is the same with their vegetables. The remote 
islands have no water-melons, guavas, and such oth- 
er fruits. 



116 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

" These observations will essentially apply to the 
circumstances of emigration. A canoe, in passing 
along its own coast, or visiting a neighbouring island, 
would take on board a hog, a dog, a fowl, and bread- 
fruit for subsistence, in preference to a monkey, a 
snake, or a guava ; and if the canoe is driven acci- 
dentally on some foreign island, they turn to greater 
advantage." 

Since these remarks were written there have been 
many opportunities for further discovery, but very 
little has been added to the stock of knowledge on 
the subject. The missionaries, during a residence 
of thirty years in the Society Islands, have found 
nothing among the traditions or customs of the peo- 
ple, from which their origin can be deduced. It was 
supposed for a time, that the languages of the island- 
ers in the Pacific Ocean would afford a clue, that 
might lead to a solution of the difficulty ; but hitherto 
all inquiries in this quarter have failed, and con- 
tributed rather to confirm than diminish the uncer- 
tainty, which existed at first. It is proved, that in 
all the islands, constituting that portion of the globe 
denominated in recent geography Polynesia, a mul- 
titude of dialects prevail, which have so near an 
affinity to each other, as to make it demonstratively 
certain, that they all sprang from the same stock. 
It is moreover remarkable, that none of these dia- 
lects, which has as yet been examined, bears any 
analogy to other known languages, except those in 
use among the natives of these islands. It is true, 
that in the Friendly Islands, New Zealand, and 
some others bordering on the Asiatic islands, a few 
Malayan words are intermixed with the Polynesian, 
but so sparingly as to make a very small part only 
of the whole, and with characteristics plainly indi- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. U7 

eating their foreign origin. If we may judge from 
the grammars prepared by the missionaries, as well 
as from their own declarations, very few languages 
are more widely different in their principles, struc- 
ture, and vocabulary, than the Malayan and Polyne- 
sian. No argument, therefore, drawn from the 
analogy of languages, any more than from striking 
traits of character in the people, can be urged to 
prove the Polynesians to have come originally from 
the islands on the south of Asia. 

The same may be said in regard to northern Asia, 
and South America. No resemblances in language 
have been discovered, and very slight ones only in 
prevailing customs ; and these, after all, may be 
accidental. Malte-Brun is opposed to the theory of 
an emigration from South America, on the ground, 
that the islands nearest the coast are not inhabited. 
But this reason has very little weight. In the first 
place, these islands are small, and would thus be the 
less likely to be met by canoes, floating at random 
over the ocean, which was undoubtedly the condi- 
tion of the first emigrants ; and in the next place, 
they are sterile, and might not have afforded sub- 
sistence to people landing on them. Again, these 
islands are not in clusters, but scattered remotely 
from each other, and many casualties may be ima- 
gined by which settlers on them might have been cut 
off, even if accident had thrown them there. In 
short, little can be said, as to the mode of the first 
peopling of the Polynesian islands, with any ap- 
proach to certainty. The study of the language, 
which the missionaries are now prosecuting, will 
open a new channel of investigation, from which 
some favorable results may be hoped. Nothing will 
probably put the question beyond controversy, but 



1 1 8 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

the discovery of a language among some of the 
tribes of Asia, or America, which bears a close re- 
semblance to the Polynesian. As no written me- 
morials of the languages of these tribes remain, if 
it should have happened, that the nation from which 
the islanders descended has become extinct, togeth- 
er with its language, which is most likely to be the 
case, the problem must go down to future ages, a 
theme only for ingenious conjecture and speculation. 
When the prevalence of the trade wind is consider- 
ed, always setting towards the west, the probability 
of a migration from America is much stronger, than 
of one from Asia. Ledyard considers the emigra- 
tion to have been comparatively recent, because the 
islands are volcanic, having been formed by violent 
eruptions from the earth ; and many centuries must 
have elapsed after such an event, before they could 
be habitable. 

The journalj which has now passed under our 
notice, can in no respect be regarded as a complete 
narrative of Cook's Third Voyage. It was written, 
as heretofore stated, under many disadvantages, in 
haste, and without the aid of the author's original 
notes ; and to all appearance the manuscript was 
printed without his correction and supervision. The 
part prepared by himself breaks off, indeed, more 
than a year before the end of the voyage, and was 
probably filled out by the publisher from the brief 
account before printed in England. Ledyard's de- 
scriptions agree in the main, however, with those 
contained in the large work, which afterwards ap- 
peared under the authority of the Admiralty. 
Occasional differences will of course naturally be 
expected, when we take into view the different cir- 
cumstances under which the commanding officer, 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. \\g 

and a corporal of marines, would observe the objects 
and events they described. The latter was often in 
situations to witness and contemplate occurrences, 
which could not come to the knowledge of the 
former, and which, on a mind acute and observing 
like his, would make impressions worthy to be re- 
corded. Nor is it any disparagement of the other 
writers to say, that several of Ledyard's descriptions 
of the manners and peculiarities of the natives are 
written with a vivacity, discrimination, and force, 
which they have not equalled. He utters his own 
sentiments with a boldness, and expresses himself 
with a confidence, that convince us of his sincerity, 
honest zeal, and mental vigor, even when we cannot 
assent to his opinions. He sometimes censures his 
superiors in office with a freedom not altogether 
commendable, and imagines them to have been ac- 
tuated by motives, which could scarcely exist. This 
may be perceived in the tone, which pervades some 
of the extracts quoted above. His station was not 
one, in which he could be acquainted with the views 
and plans of the commander ; and yet his inquisitive 
temper, and- high sense of his dignity as a man, 
prompted him to think for himself, and put much 
reliance in the conclusions of his own mind. When 
these were thwarted, as they often would be, it was 
natural that he should suppose his superiors in an 
error, especially if ill consequences resulted from 
their measures. 

He was accustomed to speak with high respect of 
Captain Cook, although he thought his proceedings 
towards the natives sometimes rash, and even un- 
justifiable. But this was no more than has been 
thought by many others. Nobody has ever doubted 
the purity of Cook's intentions, or his humanity ; 



120 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

but he adopted a system of conduct towards the 
savages, especially in punishing slight offences, the 
policy and good effects of which were less obvious 
to others than to himself. Pilfering was so univer- 
sal in all the South Sea islands, that it was hardly 
recognised in the moral code of the natives as an 
offence, much less a crime ; yet he invariably pun- 
ished transgressions of this kind with severity. A 
long course of experience had confirmed the navi- 
gator in this system, and he practised it usually with 
success. We have seen how he applied it in the 
case of Feenou, who stole the peacocks at Tongata- 
boo, and many similar instances might be cited. It 
was his rigid adherence to this course, in fact, which 
at last caused his death ; for he landed at Kiverua 
with the express purpose of enticing the old king on 
board, that he might retain him there as a hostage, 
till the stolen boat should be given up. The opin- 
ions of Ledyard on this head, therefore, though 
sometimes expressed with earnestness, argue no dis- 
respect or want of esteem for the commander, 
whom he honored for the high station to which his 
merits had raised him, and whom he admired for 
his many great and good qualities. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. J21 



CHAPTER VI. 

Ledyard returns to America. — Interview with his mother after an 
absence of eight years.— Passes the winter in Hartford, and 
writes his Journal of Cook's Voyage. — Visits New York and 
Philadelphia to concert with the merchants a plan of a commer- 
cial expedition. — Robert Morris agrees to engage in a trading 
voyage, under his direction, to the Northwest Coast. — Proceeds 
to Boston, and afterwards to New London and New York, to 
procure a vessel for the purpose. — Failure of the enterprise, 
after a year had been spent in fruitless attempts to carry it into 
effect. — Letters to his mother. — Makes a trial in New London 
to enlist the merchants of that place in his scheme. — Was the 
first to propose a voyage for a mercantile adventure to the 
Northwest Coast. — Sails for Cadiz. — Letters from that city con- 
taining political remarks. — Sails for L'Orient. — -Makes an agree- 
ment with a company of merchants there to aid him in such a 
voyage as he had proposed in America. — After eight months' 
preparation it is given up. — Goes to Paris. 

During the two years succeeding our traveller's 
arrival in England from Cook's last expedition, he 
continued in the navy, but what rank he held, or on 
what stations he served, cannot now be ascertained. 
It is only known, that he refused to be attached to 
any of the squadrons which came out to America, 
giving as a reason that he would not appear in. arms 
against his native country. Growing weary, how- 
ever, of a mode of life little suited to his disposition, 
unless in some adventurous enterprise, like that 
from which he had lately returned, his thoughts be- 
gan to wander homeward, and to dwell on the scenes 
of his youthful days. Apparently conquering the 
scruples, which he had hitherto urged as the motives 
of his reluctance, he sought the first opportunity to 
be transferred to the American station, and in De- 
cember, 1782, we find him on board a British man- 
of-war in Huntington Bay, Long Island Sound. 

It was natural that his first impulse should be to 
11 



122 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

visit his mother, who lived at Southold. Ostensibly 
for this purpose he obtained permission of seven 
days' absence from the ship, but evidently intending 
to return no more. Long Island was then in the 
possession of the British. He remained but a short 
time among his old acquaintances at Huntington, 
where, it will be recollected, in his theological tour 
ten years before, he had " feasted twelve days on 
Mr Prime's great library." From this place he 
hastened to Southold, and the first interview with his 
mother is represented as affecting. She kept a 
boarding-house, which was at that time occupied 
chiefly by British officers. He rode up to the door, 
alighted, went in, and asked if he could be accom- 
modated in her house as a lodger. She replied 
that he could, and showed him a room into which 
his baggage was conveyed. After having adjusted 
his dress, he came out and took a seat by the fire, 
in company with several other officers, without 
making himself known to his mother, or entering 
into conversation with any person. She frequently 
passed and repassed through the room, and her eye 
was observed to be attracted towards him with more 
than usual attention. He still remained silent. At 
last, after looking at him steadily for some minutes, 
she deliberately put on her spectacles, approached 
nearer to him, begging his pardon for her rudeness, 
and telling him, that he so much resembled a son of 
hers, who had been absent eight years, that she 
could not resist her inclination to view him more 
closely. The scene that followed may be imagined, 
but not described ; for Ledyard had a tender heart, 
and affection for his mother was among its deepest 
and most constant emotions. 

As he had already resolved to quit the British ser- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 123 

vice, being persuaded that no principles of justice or 
honor could make it his duty to act with the ene- 
mies of his country, he thought it prudent before the 
seven days had expired, to leave his mother's house, 
and go over to the continent. The recollections of 
his childhood detained him a short time at New 
London and Groton, and he then proceeded to 
Hartford, v/here after a ten years' wandering in the 
remotest corners of the globe, he received the cor- 
dial greetings of his early friends, and found a kind 
home under the roof of his uncle and former guar- 
dian. His feelings on this occasion will be under- 
stood from his remarks in a letter, written shortly 
after he reached Hartford. " You will be surprised 
to hear of my being at Hartford ; I am surprised 
myself. I made my escape from the British at 
Huntington Bay. I am now at Mr Seymour's, and 
as happy as need be. I have a little cash, two coats, 
three waistcoats, six pair of stockings, and half a 
dozen ruffled shirts. I am a violent whig and a vio- 
lent tory. Many are my acquaintances. I eat and 
drink when I am asked, and visit when I am invited ; 
in short, I generally do as I am bid. All I want of 
my friends is friendship; possessed of that, I am 
happy." In writing to other persons he expresses 
similar satisfaction, and although, in alluding to the 
toils and sufferings he had undergone, he declares 
himself to have been worn down by them to such a 
degree, as to make his person so " perfect a con- 
trast to beauty or elegance, that Hogarth himself 
could not deform it ; " yet he writes with a gaiety 
and playfulness, which show the sorrows of the past 
to have been forgotten in the felicity of the present, 
and that no gloomy anticipations of the future were 
allowed to mingle their alloy. 






124 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

In Hartford he remained four months, that is, 
from the first of January till about the first of May, 
in which period he wrote the Journal of Cook's 
Voyage. In this occupation, and in visiting his 
friends, he passed the winter. His restless spirit 
could be tranquil no longer. He had great projects 
in view, which he was impatient to see executed. 
New adventures courted his fancy, and flattering 
hopes as usual pressed him forward with an ardent, 
determined, and ceaseless zeal. Bidding adieu to 
his friends in Hartford, he repaired to New York, 
where he unfolded his plans to such persons, as he 
thought might be induced to patronize them ; but 
not meeting with encouragement adequate to his 
sanguine expectations, he hastened onward to Phila- 
delphia. He had but just arrived in that city, when 
he described his condition to his cousin, Dr Isaac 
Ledyard, in a manner so characteristic, that no 
apology will be necessary for quoting the letter in 
full. 

" The day after I parted with you, I took the 
Bordenton route, and the next morning landed at 
the Crooked Billet, where I breakfasted, and sallied 
out to view the nakedness of things here. I first 
went to McClanagan ; he had no navigation ; next 
to two other houses, but to no purpose. I then 
went among the shipping, and examined them pretty 
thoroughly. I doubt that I should even be put to it 
to get to sea before the mast. The most of the 
shipping here are foreigners. Sixteen sail of seven 
different maritime powers arrived a few days ago. 
Fourteen sailors went out to the northward the 
morning I arrived, for want of employ, and numbers 
are strolling the docks on the same account. There 
is at present little home navigation. 



K, 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. J 25 

" After a walk of about four hours I returned to 
my quarters, asked for a room to change my dress, 
and went up and counted my cash ; turned it over 
and looked at it ; shook it in my hand ; recounted it, 
and found two French crowns, half a crown, one 
fourth of a dollar, one eighth of a dollar, and just 
twelve coppers. Shall I visit H.'s ? I looked at my 
stockings ; they will do ; — my shoes — if I look that 
way, my two crowns and I shall part. We did 
part, — I put my new pumps on, washed, shaved, and 
went to H.'s, where I had determined not to go. 
Mr H. is now waiting for his horse ; he is going to 
Princeton. This will go by him. I am at a loss 
whether to say any thing about money here, or de- 
pend upon this letter meeting you at Princeton, wait 
the return of Mr H., the chance he has of seeing 
you, or — I don't know what to do. — I am determin- 
ed. Send me either by Mr H. or the first convey- 
ance — some cash. Adieu." 

In this state of embarrassment he continued for 
several days, seeking employment without success, 
mortified at the defeat of all his purposes, and cha- 
grined that his schemes should be so coldly received 
by those, whom he had fondly hoped would under- 
stand and promote them. By another letter, how- 
ever, written two or three weeks after the above, it 
would appear, that a gleam of light was breaking in 
upon him, and that his perseverance had not been 
wholly fruitless. He writes again to his cousin; 

" It is uncertain by what medium of conveyance 
this may reach you. I design it for the Amboy 
House, and thence to Middletown. A duplicate 
will be directed to Princeton. It is abundantly 
manifest, that this argues anxiety, and of so intense 
a kind too, as to prompt a wish for the possibility of 
11* 



126 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

the annihilation of time and distance. I have been 
so often the sport of fortune, that I durst hardly 
credit the present dawn of bright prospects. But it 
is a fact, that the Honorable Robert Morris is dispos- 
ed to give me a ship to go to the North Pacific 
Ocean. I have had two interviews with him at the 
Finance Office, and to-morrow I expect a conclusive 
one. What a noble hold he instantly took of the 
enterprise ! I have been two days, at his request, 
drawing up a minute detail of a plan, and an esti- 
mate of the outfits, which I shall present him with 
to-morrow ; and I am pleased to find, that it will be 
two thousand pounds less than one of his own. I 
take the lead of the greatest commercial enterprise, 
that has ever been embarked on in this country ; and 
one of the first moment, as it respects the trade of 
America. If the affair is concluded on, as I expect 
it will be, it is probable I shall set off for New Eng- 
land to procure seamen, or a ship, or both. Morris 
is wrapt up in the idea of Yankee sailors. 

" Necessity has overcome my delicacy. I have 
unbosomed myself to H. and laid my poverty open 
to him. He has relieved me for the present, which 
I have told him to draw on you for. Send me some 
money, for Heaven's sake, lest the laurel, now sus- 
pended over the brows of your friend, should fall 
irrecoverably into the dust. Adieu.' ? 

The enterprise to which he alludes in this letter, 
as having been concerted with Mr Morris, and which 
had occupied his thoughts ever since his return from 
Cook's expedition, was a trading voyage to the 
Northwest Coast. At this time no such mercantile 
adventure had been attempted, either in this country 
or Europe, nor is it known that anything of the kind 
had ever been contemplated. Ledyard's knowledge 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 127 

of the resources of the Northwest Coast in furs, 
derived from his observations while there, particu- 
larly at Nootka Sound and the Russian establish- 
ment on the island of Onalaska, together with the 
enormous advances, which he had seen paid in Can- 
ton on the original cost of this article, had convinced 
him that great profits might be realized by a voyage, 
fitted out expressly for this trade. Hitherto no 
market had been opened to the natives, by which 
they could dispose of the superabundance of their 
furs, or receive such articles in exchange, as might 
suit their fancy or convenience j hence the furs could 
be purchased extremely low, and paid for in com- 
modities of little intrinsic value, and at such prices 
as the vendor might choose to affix. It was clear, 
therefore, in his mind, that they, who should first en- 
gage in this trade, would reap immense profits by 
their earliest efforts, and at the same time gain such 
knowledge and experience, as would enable them 
to pursue it for years with advantages superior to 
any, that could be commanded by the competitors, 
who might be drawn into the same channel of com- 
merce. 

So strong had grown his confidence in the accu- 
racy of his opinions, by long reflection on the sub- 
ject, and such was the eagerness of his desire to 
prove the truth of his theory by actual experiment, 
that he applied the whole energy of his mind and 
character to the task of creating an interest in his 
project among the merchants, who had the means of 
carrying it into effect, and without whose patronage 
nothing could be done. In New York he was un- 
successful ; his scheme was called wild and vision- 
ary, and set down as bearing the marks rather of a 
warm imagination, and sanguine temperament, than 



128 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 



of a sober and mature judgment. No merchant was 
found willing to hazard his money, or his reputation, 
in an adventure so novel in its kind, and so ques- 
tionable in its promise, a scheme not only untried, 
but never before thought of. His first inquiries in 
Philadelphia met with no better favor, till Mr Robert 
Morris, with an enlargement of mind and purpose, 
which characterized his undertakings, entered into 
his views, and made arrangements to furnish the 
outfits of a voyage, according to the plan he drew 
up. 

The first thing to be done was to procure a ship 
suitable for such a voyage. At that time there was 
none unemployed in Philadelphia, and Ledyard was 
despatched to Boston, where it was thought a pur- 
chase might speedily be effected, and where progress 
was actually made in the preparation of a vessel for 
this purpose ; but for some cause not now known, it 
was taken for a voyage of a different kind. He 
next proceeded to New London, where the Conti- 
nental frigate, Trumbull, was engaged for the voy- 
age, but this ship was afterwards diverted to another 
adventure, suggested by this plan. The Count 
d'Artois, a large French ship then lying in the har- 
bour of New London, was next thought of, but was 
finally otherwise destined. Again, a ship in New 
York, of about three hundred tons, was provided ; 
but on examination it proved to be so old and de- 
fective, that it was condemned as unsafe for a voy- 
age of such length and hazard. The season was 
by this time too far advanced to think of prosecut- 
ing the voyage before the next spring. Meantime 
Mr Daniel Parker was employed to purchase a ship 
in New York, and to have it in readiness as soon as 
the favorable season for its sailing should arrive. A 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 129 

ship was procured accordingly, but the outfits were 
delayed from time to time, till the winter passed by, 
and then the spring, and at last it was sent on an 
adventure to Canton. Thus a year was spent, in a 
vexatious and fruitless struggle to overcome difficul- 
ties, which thickened as he advanced, till his pa- 
tience, and that of Mr Morris also, would seem to 
have been exhausted, for the voyage was altogether 
abandoned. 

While he was in New London negotiating for the 
ship Trumbull, after his return from Boston, he wrote 
a letter to his mother, from which an extract here 
follows. 

" This is the first opportunity in reality, which I 
have had of writing to you, since I have been in this 
country. My ambition to do everything, which my 
disposition as a man, and my relative character as a 
citizen, and more tenderly as the leading descendant 
of a broken and distressed family, should prompt me 
to do, has engaged me in every kind of speculation, 
which afforded the least probability of advancing my 
interest, my happiness, or the happiness of my 
friends. These different engagements have led me 
into different conditions ; sometimes I have been 
elated with hope, sometimes depressed with disap- 
pointment and distress. I postponed informing you 
of my circumstances, indulging the constant hope of 
their soon being better, until which time I was de- 
termined you should not know anything particularly 
concerning me. If that time is now arrived, it has 
been more from the influence of a kind Providence, 
than my own merits. My prospects at present are 
a voyage to the East Indies, and eventually round 
the world. It will be of two or three years' dura- 
tion. If I am successful, I shall not have occasion 



130 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

to absent myself any more from my friends ; but 
above all, I hope to have it in my power to minister 
to the wants of a beloved parent, and others who 
languish and fade in obscurity. My dear sisters 
engage my tenderest love, and solicitude for their 
future welfare. My best wish is, that they may be 
educated and disposed of suitably to the beauty of 
their persons, and their excellent hearts, and that I 
could be instrumental in conferring such a kindness. 
I beg my brotherly salutations to them. Tell them 
I long to strew roses in their laps, and branches of 
palm beneath their feet." 

It ought to be recorded in this place, that while 
Ledyard was in New York, anxiously waiting for a 
vessel, his embarrassments, occasioned by the want 
of money, were often relieved, in a spirit of great 
kindness, by Mr Comfort Sands. This gentleman 
became acquainted with him in Philadelphia, and 
early approved and promoted the enterprise, which" 
he had in contemplation ; he proposed sending an 
adventure by the same voyage, and during the whole 
preparation rendered him essential services, for 
which it is believed he never received any other re- 
turns, than such as always attend the consciousness 
of benevolent acts, and of having aided the advance- 
ment of large and useful designs. 

Not discouraged by the ill fortune, which he had 
so signally experienced, Ledyard resolved not to 
relinquish his purpose, till he had made other trials 
to carry it forward. He repaired to New London, 
and suggested the same adventure to persons of com- 
mercial pursuits in that port. He was particularly 
strenuous in persuading Captain Deshon, who owned 
a fine new ship then lying in the harbour, and well 
constructed for such a voyage, to embark with him 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 131 

in a trading expedition to the Northwest Coast. 
Captain Deshon was the nephew of the commander 
of the vessel, in which Ledyard sailed to Gibraltar, 
and although at that time a youth, he was himself on 
board in the service of his uncle. A friendship had 
ever afterwards subsisted between the two voyagers, 
and Captain Deshon was now willing to join with his 
friend in any mercantile adventure, which should 
seem to him practicable, safe, and affording a rea- 
sonable prospect of gain. But Ledyard drew so 
glowing a picture of the advantages to be derived 
from his projected voyage, the trifling value of the 
articles necessary for an outward cargo, and the im- 
mense advances that would be received on the price 
of the articles purchased ; in short, his enthusiasm 
gave so bright a coloring to his representations, and 
such amplitude to his hopes, that Captain Deshon 
could not so far resist the dictates of prudence, as 
to participate in feelings and views, which he deem- 
ed little short of romantic, and as more strongly 
tinged with the native warmth of his character, than 
with that trait of mind, which weighs and deliberates 
cautiously before it resolves. It is needless to add, 
that, under these impressions, he could not prevail 
on himself to second his friend's wishes ; yet he was 
afterwards heard to say, that Ledyard's account, in 
its minutest details, was verified by the first voyages 
of that kind from the United States, and that he had 
often regretted his not having listened to him, and 
prosecuted the voyage in compliance with his soli- 
citation. As far as can be ascertained, Ledyard's 
views of the subject, both as unfolded in the trans- 
actions with Mr Morris and with Captain Deshon, 
accorded exactly with those acted upon by the first 
adventurers, who were rewarded with extraordinary 



132 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

success. It was a part of his plan to purchase 
lands of the natives, and establish a factory, or colo- 
ny, for the purpose of a continued intercourse and 
•trade. 

Weary of making fruitless applications in his own 
country, Ledyard determined to embark for Europe, 
where he might expect better patronage from larger 
capitalists, and in a wider field of commercial activ- 
ity. Mr Morris had made him some compensation 
for the time he had spent in his service, and favored 
him with several letters of recommendation to emi- 
nent merchants abroad, particularly in France. 
He took passage in a vessel from New London, 
bound to Cadiz. On the first of June, 1784, he 
wrote as follows to his mother. 

-" Since I saw you last, I have passed through a 
great many difficulties and disappointments, which 
•my most intimate friends are, and must be for the 
present, at least, unacquainted with, as it will answer 
no good purpose to break their repose, or add to my 
cares, by reflecting on what is past, and thence antici- 
pating evil. You have no doubt heard of my very 
great disappointment at New York. For a moment, 
all the fortitude, that ten years' misfortune had 
taught me, could hardly support me. I am now 
very well in health. This will probably be the last 
letter I shall write you from this country. I shall 
sail within twelve days for Spain, whence I expect 
to go to France, and there again to renew the busi- 
ness I was so unfortunate in at New York. If I 
succeed in my wishes, it may be two or three years 
before I return. In this interim, I pray you to give 
me your blessing and your" prayers. My sisters I 
hope are well, and beg them to accept a brother's 
love. Please to present my kind love to my broth- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 133 

ers. May that Being, who is infinitely great and in- 
finitely good, be the friend of them and of us all." 

He sailed for Spain, as here intimated, shortly af- 
ter writing this letter, having been the first, whether 
in America or Europe, to suggest a scheme of trade 
with the Northwest Coast, which has since proved 
to be a very lucrative field of commerce to merchants 
in both hemispheres. It was more than a year af- 
ter his earliest application to the merchants in New 
York, before any expedition of the kind was fitted 
out from Europe. The first voyage from the Uni- 
ted States to the Northwest Coast was in the ship 
Columbia, of three hundred tons, which sailed from 
Boston under the command of Captain John Ken- 
drick, about three years after Ledyard's visit to that 
place, in search of a ship for Mr Morris. He may 
justly be considered, therefore, the first projector of 
this branch of commerce. Captain Kendrick so far 
adopted his ulterior purpose, as to purchase lands 
of the natives, with a view of founding a colony there, 
when a proper occasion should offer. To this end 
he took formal deeds of the land, confirmed by the 
signs manual of the chiefs, who claimed the territo- 
ry.* To some of his friends, Leyard mentioned 
his intention of leaving the ship on the coast, when 
the cargo should be obtained, and exploring the 
country over land from Nootka Sound, or some 
point farther north, across to the Mississippi and 
Ohio rivers, thus traversing the whole space be- 
tween the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Meantime 



* The original deeds are now in the office of the Secretary of 
State in Washington. In company with the Columbia was the 
Washington, a vessel of one hundred tons' burden, commanded 
by Captain Robert Grey. , 
12 



134 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

the vessel was to proceed to China, and thence to 
return and meet him in New York, ready for anoth- 
er voyage. 

But all the fine prospects, which he had dwelt 
upon in anticipation, are to be given up for the pres- 
ent, and we must follow him to Europe. The pas- 
sage to Cadiz was favorable and expeditious. He 
does not seem to have had any special design in 
visiting Cadiz, in reference to the main object of his 
crossing the Atlantic. This destination probably 
awaited him, in consequence of an opportunity pre- 
senting itself of a more direct passage to that port, 
than to any other in the south of Europe. L' Ori- 
ent was the city, which he intended to visit, and in 
which he had been encouraged to look for patrons 
of his projected enterprise. He had been furnished 
with letters to wealthy and enterprising merchants 
there, and he made all haste to be on the spot. 
Various causes of delay kept him in Cadiz more 
than a month. This time he filled up as well as he 
could, in gaining information of the place, of its re- 
sources and trade, and of the manners and character 
of the people. He also endeavoured to drive away 
the melancholy thoughts, incident to the anxiety of 
his situation, by mingling in social circles, and con- 
triving to be entertained by the public amusements, 
that were much frequented by all ranks of people. 
On the sixteenth of August he wrote thus from Ca- 
diz to Dr Ledyard. 

" Just as I was seated, and had dated my letter, 
the carriage of General O'Reilly hove in view, a 
clumsy, gothic vehicle, dragged by five jaded mules 
to the bull-fight. Who is General O'Reilly ? A 
poor, migrating, Irish cadet ; a soldier that was 
scalded at the storm of Gibraltar. O'Reilly is to 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 



135 



Cadiz, and all within his jurisdiction, which consists 
of two provinces, what Czar Peter was to Russia. 
The reform he has made in the minutest parts of 
his government, as well as the most important, is 
looked upon as a phenomenon in this country. He 
has, with a boldness that characterizes an enterpris- 
ing commander and legislator, even struck at those 
old habits among a people, so dangerous to be med- 
dled with. Envy is the natural concomitant of 
such merit, and O'Reilly has probably greater 
friends and enemies at the court of Madrid, than 
any other character in the kingdom ; and both par- 
ties had a fair opportunity of contesting their ascen- 
dency, after the miscarriage of the late descent 
against the Moors ; but his conquering his court en- 
emies at home fully compensated that misfortune 
abroad, and confirmed his fame, nay, added to its 
lustre.* To execute all these great matters, O'Reil- 
ly is not the man you would suppose. His educa- 
tion is contracted ; he is capricious, severe, and 
arrogant ; ordinary in his person, and forbidding in 
his address. 

" The exhibition of the bull-fights is in a spacious 
amphitheatre, that will accommodate twelve thou- 
sand spectators. The horsemen display more skill 
and courage, than the footmen. But it is a barba- 



* This alludes to an attack by the Spaniards on Algiers in the 
year 1775. A formidable armament of six ships of the line, twelve 
frigates, a large number of smaller vessels, and twenty-five thou- 
sand men, all under the command of the Conde de O'Reilly, 
formed that expedition. A large part of the army was landed, 
and a partial battle ensued, in which the Spaniards met with a sig- 
nal and most disgraceful defeat. Severe censures were passed on 
O'Reilly, and a general spirit of indignation existed against him 
throughout Spain, but the weight of his talents, and his influence 
at court, enabled him to triumph over his enemies, and to sustain 
himself in the highest stations. 



w 



136 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

rous amusement. There are many Irish inhabitants 
here, all of whom are particularly friendly to Amer- 
icans. I am now writing at the house of Mr Har- 
rison, handsomely situated on the side of the Ala- 
meda. I take a family dinner with him to-day, hav- 
ing already taken a formal one. The British consul 
also receives me with great politeness. But what I 
am doing among these gentry, with only half a dollar 
and four reals in my pocket, you must, with me, 
wait for time to develope. I shall soon leave this 
place for France, and my route will be either up 
the Mediterranean to Marseilles, and thence on the 
grand canal west to Bourdeaux ; or along the coast 
of Spain and Portugal by sea. I yesterday convers- 
ed with an Englishman, who is commissioned to treat 
privately with our States in behalf of the Emperor 
of Morocco j but if I can persuade him to send his 
Arabic commission back, and join me with his cash 
and importance at Bourdeaux, or Nantz — . The 
preliminary step is accomplished, and he is now 
somewhere in the town as busy in the affair, as a 
dozen such heads as mine could be." 

Since no more is heard of this commissioner 
from the Emperor of Morocco, it is presumed the 
preliminary step was the only one taken in the busi- 
ness. Ledyard remained in Cadiz, apparently wait- 
ing for a passage either to Marseilles, or to some 
port in the west of France, as chance might offer. 
He wrote to his friends, communicating his observa- 
tions on what passed around him, but said little of his 
own circumstances or prospects. The remarks now 
about to be quoted, are contained in a letter written 
to his correspondent in America, after he had been 
two weeks at Cadiz, and are not more curious for 
their singularity, than for the historical hints they 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 137 

convey, in regard to the state of knowledge and 
feeling, which then prevailed in the south of Europe, 
respecting the United States. 

" The people in this, as in other parts of Europe, 
are more systematic than you [Americans] are in 
everything. Here the routine of life, however va- 
ried, is still uniform, whether composed of virtue or 
vice, wisdom or folly. Before dinner, the merchant, 
mechanic, and ordinary laborer, are assiduously in- 
tent on their different employments. After dinner, 
they as regularly devote themselves to their several 
gratifications, which consist either of conversation or 
sleep. The opulent and polite adopt the first. 
At a polite table, therefore, you hear the very best 
things they are capable of saying. Here, then, I 
am told you err in your politics ; 1 mean that kind of 
policy, which your independence has given birth to. 
The general disapprobation of your present govern- 
ment on this score, is the sentiment of those, who 
are subjects of other nations^ as well as of this ; but 
I am happy to say, that I have found no character, 
who any otherwise thinks ill of you. This is not a 
negative regard, bestowed on a people they think 
cannot approximate their importance, and therefore 
deserve pity ; it is a positive one ; and you may 
please yourself with the assurance of its originating 
from your general conduct during the war. Another 
feather in your cap, and that not an obscure one, 
let me tell you, is the plain, affable, and honest de- 
portment of your kinsfolk, who sojourn hereabout. 
Brother Jonathan is an agreeable singularity. 
These observations, which you are included in, did 
not come from the cabinet of Charles, or the Pope, 
who no doubt hate you very sincerely ; the one foi- 



V 



138 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

your laws, which he fears ; and the other for your 
religion, which he is unwise enough to abominate. 
" The great complaint, which people make against 
your government, is the obscure, unimportant, unen- 
ergetic investitures of Congress. So strongly are 
they impressed with the idea of the degree of pow- 
er, which Congress ought to hold, compared with 
what they now conceive it to be invested with, that 
they declare the resolve of a Boston committee com- 
mands more immediate attention in Cadiz, than a 
congressional one would do ; observing, that although 
Congress claims more respectability, it only de- 
mands what it ought to have, and not what it is 
possessed of. They further add, that whatever 
embarrassments may attend the progress of a young 
nation, and however excusable some exigences may 
have rendered some parts of your conduct, yet 
surely the leading preliminaries, the first strong out- 
lines, that form the basis of a great republic, cannot 
be thus lost sight of without reflecting on your coun- 
cils. Have you formed even a treaty of friendship 
with that pestilential meteor in power, Hamet, Em- 
peror of Morocco ? No. Have you in your own 
right a Mediterranean passport ? No. What securi- 
ty have you then for your Straitsmen ? The savage, 
Hamet, knows no medium in such kind of friend- 
ship ', never dreamt of such a thing as an independ- 
ent neutrality. What will you do then ? Eat all 
your flour, cod, spars, and potash, or ransom your 
captivated countrymen at fifteen hundred pounds a 
head, and lose your produce ? Hamet wants your 
alliance. Give the snarling mastiff a bone, and while 
he is gnawing it you can do as you please. It is 
certain, that your unorganized system of government 
is here much talked of, and you know the conse- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 139 

quence of these matters being much talked of. Your 
paltry state schisms are considered to be such vulgar 
errors, as a people aiming at the most refined system 
of government could not commit, without the impu- 
tation of perfect insanity. But adieu, politics. In- 
deed I know not what humor prompted me to offer 
my advice to you in this way. 

" If the incongruity of my letter bespeaks a per- 
turbation of mind, it. will not deceive you. It is a 
cloudy day with me. However, my hobby tells me 
it will be fair weather tomorrow ; and I believe it, 
because I wish it. You will probably next hear from 
me in France. In the mean time, let me make sure 
of one circumstance, and if tomorrow bring its mis- 
fortunes, they will be less severe, when I reflect on 
having said to those I know will believe me, that no 
evil, till that which is esteemed the last of evils, 
can ever obliterate, or even obscure, that lasting af- 
fection and esteem, which I have for you and your 
best of brothers. My other remembrances I com- 
mit to your care." 

He remained in Cadiz but a few days after this 
letter was written, when he somewhat unexpectedly 
procured a passage for Brest, on board the French 
ship Bourbon. It was rare for him to be out of 
health, but in Cadiz he was attacked with a fever, 
which had scarcely left him when he went to sea. 
While on board he writes, " My fever was in conse- 
quence of a slight cold originally, and heightened 
by a fit of uncommon melancholy ; but I am getting 
about again, and excepting a slight debility, and 
some of Cook's rheumatism in my bones, I am well." 
His spirits were not unfrequently oppressed, when 
the various turns in his affairs left him inactive, with 
precarious means of support, and uncertain as to the 



V 



' - 



140 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

future ; but he took great pains to conceal the symp- 
toms of gloom from his friends. They are occa- 
sionally discovered in his letters, rather from his 
forced attempts to be cheerful and gay, when it is 
evident by the general tenor of his thoughts, that his 
heart is sad, than from any formal complaints of his 
ill fortune, or repinings at the will of Providence. 
He was now visiting Europe in the prosecution of 
what he deemed a noble and important enterprise ; 
but he was going among strangers, who could only 
be induced to listen to his proposals by motives of 
interest, and whom he must inspire with some por- 
tion of his own enthusiasm, before they could be 
expected to favor his schemes, or even comprehend 
his views. The task thus presented to him was 
disheartening. But however despondency might 
sometimes give a hue to his thoughts, he never suf- 
fered it to weaken his resolution, or repress his ardor. 
The great object of pursuit was never lost sight of, 
while his way to its accomplishment was lighted by 
a gleam of hope. The whole force of his mind 
was now bent upon a voyage of trade and discovery 
to the Northwest Coast. He was powerfully im- 
pressed with the belief, that such an enterprise would 
redound to the honor of those engaged in it, and 
confer new benefits upon the commercial world ; 
and was not a little chagrined at the small encour- 
agement, which his strenuous exertions had received 
in his own country. 

In this state of mind it is no wonder, that he 
should express himself in the following language on 
his voyage to Brest. " I saw an English gentleman 
at Cadiz, who assured me, that about six months 
past a ship of seven hundred tons, commissioned by 
the Empress of Russia, was fitted out in the English 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. \^\ 

Thames on a voyage to the back parts of America ; 
that she was armed, and commanded by a Russian, 
and that some of her officers were those, who had 
been with Cook. You see the business deserves 
the attenti6n I have endeavoured, and am still striving 
to give it ; and had Morris not shrunk behind a 
trifling obstruction, I should have been happy, and 
America would this moment be triumphantly dis- 
playing her flag in the most remote and beneficial 
regions of commerce. I am tired of my vexa- 
tions." 

He arrived, after a short passage, at Brest, and 
set off by land through Quimper to L'Orient. "I 
am now at Quimper," he writes, " and tomorrow, if 
my horses please, I will be in L'Orient. ' What will 
you do there ? ' The best I can. Brest is a naval 
arsenal, but not so respectable as I had imagined. 
Monsieur de Kerguelen, the great navigator, lives 
within nine miles of me, but a Holland consul has 
me by the button, and I cannot see him. The dia- 
lect of Bretagne has some resemblance both to the 
Irish and Welsh, But, good night ; I must sleep. 
Tired nature will have it so." From Quimper he 
proceeded to L'Orient, where he immediately began 
to put his affairs in train. 

The letters he brought with him from respectable 
sources, procured him a speedy acquaintance with 
gentlemen of the first character in the place ; and 
his plan was received with so much approbation, 
that within twelve days he completed a negotiation 
with a company of merchants, and a ship was se- 
lected for the intended voyage. Mutual engage- 
ments were entered into by the parties, and every- 
thing seemed to wear the most promising aspect. 
So unaccustomed had he been to such good fortune, 



142 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

that he could hardly realize at first the happy issue 
of events as they then stood. " I have been so 
much the sport of accident," said he, " that I am 
exceedingly suspicious. It is true, that in this 
L'Orient negotiation, I have guarded every avenue 
to future disappointment, with all possible caution j 
yet this head I wear, is so much a dupe to my heart, 
and at other times my heart is so bewildered by my 
head, that in matters of business I have not much 
confidence in either." He then speaks of the point 
to which the negotiation had been brought, and adds, 
" but here comes a but, — ah, these buts ; pray 
Heaven they may not but the modicum of brains out 
of my head, which Morris has left there. The but 
is this. I have arrived so late in the season, that the 
merchants have procrastinated the equipment until 
next summer, and requested me to stay here till 
then, allowing me genteelly for that purpose. And 
were I but certain, that no cruel misfortune would 
eventually happen, I should be quite happy, for 
present appearances could not be better. Upon any 
consideration, it is for my interest to wait the event ; 
and as I hourly perceive the folly of repining at a 
disappointed wish, or, indeed, of suffering what I 
may happen to call misfortune, whether present or 
anticipated, to meet any other reception from me, 
than the most undaunted which my experience can 
enable me to meet it with, I am determined to sit 
down, not despondingly, dejectedly, or supinely — 
what a vile row of adverbs — but contemplatively, 
cheerly, and industriously. It seems decreed by 
somewhat, that I shall be driven about the world in 
a most untraversable way ; but in whatever clime I 
may alight, my ardent desire is, that the friendship 
of my friends may greet me well. This done, I have 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 143 

drunk my cordial, and there is not a richer in France 
— and only in America one, which perfumed the air 
from M — to Amboy House." 

All things being thus arranged to his mind, and 
having nothing to regret but the procrastination of 
his voyage, which he perceived to be unavoidable, 
he resolved to spend the winter in L'Orient, and be 
in readiness to commence preparations the moment 
that the season would admit. It was now October, 
and the opinion of the merchants was, that a suita- 
ble vessel could not be obtained and properly fitted 
out before the succeeding August. Ten months for 
such an object seemed a long period to Ledyard, as 
well indeed they might, but experience had taught 
him patience ; and the fair prospects held out by 
this negotiation, together with the consideration,, 
that, by leaving France at the close of summer, he 
would pass round Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean 
at the most favorable season, reconciled him to the 
delay. In the mean time, being supplied with a 
liberal income by the mercantile company mentioned 
above, he frequented the best society in L'Orient, 
to whom his extensive knowledge of the world, his 
general intelligence, unpretending manners, and 
frank and generous temper, always made him ac- 
ceptable. Nothing occurred to interrupt his happi- 
ness, or darken his hopes, during the four months 
that followed, except occasional reflections on the 
time that had been lost in his fruitless endeavours, and 
the glory that others were reaping in the field of 
discovery, which he ought to have been the first to 
explore. 

" I wrote you last," says he, " that a Russian ship 
had been sent into that part of the vast Pacific 
Ocean. Four nights ago, I saw a Russian gentle- 



v> 






144 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

man from Petersburg, who informed me of two 
ships having been sent thither. In our yesterday's 
paper, it is said that the ship Seahorse, belonging to 
the English Hudson's Bay Company, had made a 
voyage thither, and returned well. You see what 
honorable testimonies daily transpire to evince, that 
I am no otherwise the mad, romantic, dreaming 
Ledyard, than in the estimation of those who thought 
me so. The flame of enterprise, that I kindled in 
America, terminated in a flash, that bespoke little 
foresight or resolution in my patrons. Perseverance 
was an effort of understanding, which twelve rich 
merchants were incapable of making ; and whether 
I now succeed or not, the obstacles I have surmount- 
ed, to reach my present attainment, infer some small 
merit, which I do not blush to own among my pri- 
vate pleasures." 

The winter soon passed away, and near the end 
of February measures began to be taken for equip- 
ping the vessel for sea. It was intended, that a 
commission from the king should be obtained to sail 
on a voyage of discovery. Some advantages, it was 
supposed, would thus be derived to the mercantile 
interests of the voyage, as the vessel would be cloth- 
ed with a public character, and from this circum- 
stance ensure a greater respect from any foreigners 
she might fall in with, as well as enable the owners 
to claim, in the name of the King of France, any 
islands or unknown regions, that might be actually 
discovered. A memorial, and other suitable papers, 
were sent to the king's ministers, applying for such 
a privilege, and for letters of recommendation to the 
European public agents residing in those parts of 
the world, at which the vessel would probably touch. 
On the twenty-third of February, 1785, Ledyard 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 145 

wrote to his brothers from L'Orient ; " My affairs in 
France are likely to prove of the greatest honor and 
advantage to me. I have a fine ship of four hundred 
tons, and in August next I expect to sail on another 
voyage round the world, at the end of which, if 
Heaven is propitious to me, I hope to see you. In 
the mean time, may the God of nature spread his 
mantle over you all. If I never see you more, it 
shall be well ; if I do, it shall be well ; so be happy 
and of good cheer." From this tone of his feel- 
ings, it is evident that his heart was light, and his 
hopes high. Up to this point all things had pro- 
ceeded according to his expectations and wishes ; 
he had passed an agreeable winter in a social and 
refined circle of friends, and he began now to enjoy 
in anticipation the triumphs of his zeal and perse- 
verance. 

But unfortunately this flattering vision was soon 
to be dissipated, like the many others, by which he 
had been elated and deceived 5 again was he to be 
made, in his own phrase, " the sport of accident ; " 
again was the burden of a cruel disappointment to 
weigh on his spirits, and disturb his repose. After 
the date of the above letter, we hear no more of the 
L'Orient negotiation, except that it failed. Whether 
this result, so desolating to the hopes of our adven- 
turer, was produced by the caprice of the merchants, 
who had united with him in the undertaking, or by 
any sudden change in their affairs, which took from 
them the ability of fulfilling their contract, or by the 
refusal of the government to grant such a commis- 
sion as was expected, or by all these combined, is 
not known. It is enough, that the voyage was en- 
tirely abandoned, and Ledyard was left with no 
other recompense for this new vexation, than his 
13 



146 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

own mortified feelings, and the prospects of a future 
too gloomy even for him to contemplate unmoved. 
The slender stock of money, with which he landed 
in Europe, was completely exhausted ; he could ex- 
pect no more from the L'Orient merchants, nor from 
any other quarter; and, what afflicted him more 
severely than all the rest, the last resort for carrying 
into effect his darling plan of northwestern discovery 
and trade, had been tried in vain. No consolation 
remained for his baffled purposes and wasted zeal. 
Yet fifteen years' experience, in buffeting the rough 
and sometimes perilous current of life, had taught 
him other lessons than those of despondency, and 
nerved him for other deeds than a tame submission 
to the control of untoward circumstances. His be- 
wildering doubts, as to what course he should pur- 
sue, detained him a short time in L'Orient. He 
looked to Paris as the theatre, on which he would 
be most likely to better his fortunes ; and after his 
concerns relative to the voyage were closed, he 
hastened to that capital. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 147 



CHAPTER VII. 

Meets with Mr. Jefferson at Paris. — Project of a voyage to the 
Northwest Coast with Paul Jones, for the purpose of establish- 
ing a trading factory there. — Proposes travelling across the con- 
tinent from Nootka Sound to the United States. — Thinks of 
going to Africa with Mr Lamb. — Remarks on Paris, and varions 
objects that came under his notice. — The King at Versailles. — 
Mr Jefferson and Lafayette. — The Queen at St Cloud. — Appli- 
cation through Baron Grimm to the Empress of Russia, to obtain 
permission for him to travel across her dominions to Bering's 
Strait. — Colonel Humphreys. — Contemplates going to Peters- 
burg, before the Empress' answer is received. — Curious anecdote 
of Sir James Hall. — Visit to the hospitals in Paris. — Tour in 
Normandy. — Proceeds to London, where he engages a passage 
on board a vessel just ready to sail for the Northwest Coast. — 
Colonel Smith's letter to Mr Jay. — The voyage defeated. — Re- 
solves anew to go to Russia. — Sir Joseph Banks and other gen- 
tlemen contribute funds to aid him in his travels. 

At this time Mr Jefferson was minister from the 
United States at the court of France. That patriot, 
equally ardent in the love of science, and friendly to 
every enterprise, which had for its object the im- 
provement of his country, received Ledyard with 
great kindness, and approved most highly his design 
of an expedition to the Northwest Coast of Ameri- 
ca. He perceived at once the advantages, that 
would flow from such a voyage, not merely in its 
immediate mercantile results, but in its bearing on 
the future commerce and political interests of the 
United States. No part of that wide region had 
then been explored, nor any formal possession taken 
of it, except the few points at which Cook's vessels 
had touched, and others where the Russians pos- 
sessed small establishments for the prosecution of 
the fur trade with the Indians. These latter were 
also probably confined to the islands. To a states- 
man like Mr Jefferson it was evident, that a large 






148 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

portion of that immense country, separated from the 
United States by no barrier of nature, would event- 
ually be embraced in their territory. He was con- 
vinced of the propriety, therefore, of its being ex- 
plored by a citizen of the United States, and 
regretted the failure of Ledyard's attempts in his 
own country to engage in a voyage before the same 
thing had been meditated anywhere else. These 
views were deeply impressed on the mind of Mr 
Jefferson, and in them originated the journey of 
Lewis and Clarke over land to the Pacific Ocean, 
twenty years afterwards, which was projected by 
him, and prosecuted under his auspices. 

Ledyard had not been many days in Paris, before 
he became acquainted with Paul Jones, at that time 
acting under a commission from the Congress of the 
United States, to demand the amount of certain 
prizes, which he had taken during the war, particu- 
larly in the famous capture of the Serapis and the 
Countess of Scarborough, and sent into French 
ports. This intrepid adventurer, being now unem- 
ployed in any military or public service, eagerly 
seized Ledyard's idea, and an arrangement was clos- 
ed, by which they agreed to unite in an expedition, 
on a scale somewhat larger than Ledyard had before 
contemplated. Two vessels were to be fitted out, 
and, if possible, commissioned by the king. Jones 
was to use his influence at court, to persuade the 
government to enlist in the enterprise, or at least to 
furnish the vessels and the requisite naval armament. 
If this could not be effected, it was resolved that the 
outfits should be reduced within the limits of Jones's 
private means, and the two partners would act whol- 
ly on their own responsibility and risk. 

If it should be found necessary to pursue the en- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 149 

terprise on their private account alone, the two 
vessels were to proceed in company to the North- 
west Coast, and commence a factory there under 
the American flag. The first six months were to be 
spent in collecting furs, and looking out for a suita- 
ble spot to establish a post, either on the main land, 
or on an island. A small stoccade was then to be 
built, in which Ledyard was to be left with a sur- 
geon, an assistant, and twenty soldiers ; one of the 
vessels was to be despatched, with its cargo of furs, 
under the command of Paul Jones, to China, while 
the other was to remain in order to facilitate the 
collecting of another cargo during his absence. 
Jones was to return with both the vessels to China, 
sell their cargoes of furs, load them with silks and 
teas, and continue his voyage round the Cape of 
Good Hope to Europe, or the United States. He 
was then to replenish his vessel with suitable articles 
for traffic with the Indians, and proceed as expedi- 
tiously as possible round Cape Horn, to the point of 
his departure in the Northern Pacific. Meantime 
Ledyard and his party were to employ themselves 
in purchasing furs, cultivating a good understanding 
with the natives, and making such discoveries on the 
coast, as their situation would allow. Ledyard sup- 
posed he should be absent four or five years, and 
perhaps six or seven.* 

Here was a scheme, that might give full scope to 



* A voyage from Canton to the Northwest Coast, and hack to that 
port, for purposes similar to those meditated by Ledyard and Paul 
Jones, was performed fourteen years afterwards by Captair Rich- 
ard J. Cleveland. Whoever would understand the difficulties and 
dangers of such an enterprise, at that time, will be pleased with 
reading a brief account of Captain Cleveland's voyage, in the 
North American Review for October, 1827. No. 57. 
13* 






150 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

the imagination of the two heroes by whom it had 
been conceived, presenting at once the prospect of 
hazard, adventure, fame, and profit. They dwelt 
upon it with complacency, and so much was Jones 
taken with it, that he advanced money to Ledyard 
with which to purchase a part of the cargo for the 
outfit, even before he had applied to the government 
for aid, being determined to prosecute it at his own 
risk if he failed in that quarter. But at this mo- 
ment, his affairs in regard to the prize-money assum- 
ed a crisis, which compelled him to go from Paris 
to L'Orient, where he was detained nearly three 
months ; and although he was ultimately successful, 
yet his zeal for this new scheme gradually cooled 
down, as he probably found that the government 
would do nothing in the matter, and that his private 
fortune was not adequate to so expensive an under- 
taking. At any rate, it fell through, and after four 
or five months of suspense, Ledyard had the renew- 
ed mortification of another disappointment, and of 
seeing his ardent wishes no nearer their accomplish- 
ment, than when he left L'Orient. The only ad- 
vantage he had derived from his intercourse with the 
Chevalier, was an allowance of money sufficient for 
his maintenance, which Jones had stipulated at the 
commencement of the negotiation, and which he had 
promptly paid. 

Just at this time Mr Lamb, the diplomatic agent 
appointed by the Congress of the United States to 
treat with the Dey of Algiers, arrived in Paris. Led- 
yard met him occasionally at Mr Jefferson's, took an 
interest in his mission, and had serious thoughts of 
joining him and going to Africa, but for what specific 
purpose is not told. The lingering desire, howev- 
er, of still being able to conquer the fatality of cir- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 151 

cumstances, which had hitherto impeded his progress 
to glory, in the course his fancy had pictured to him, 
continued to sustain him with the hope of a better 
turn of fortune, and to urge him forward to untried 
expedients. 

In Paris he associated with several Americans, 
who approved and encouraged his ardor, and whose 
society afforded him consolation in the midst of his 
misfortunes, but who were not in a condition to pro- 
mote his wishes, or remove his embarrassments. 
The question, what was to be done, which he had 
so often been compelled to ask himself, in cases of 
similar extremity, now recurred anew, and with as 
small a prospect as ever of its being answered in 
such a manner, as to lull his apprehensions, ot re- 
lieve his anxiety. He determined to adventure one 
effort more, and submit the same proposition to a 
mercantile company in Paris, which he had done in 
L'Orient. Some progress was made in an attempt 
to organize such a company, but it was never ma- 
tured. It was his intention, after he had visited the 
coast, and procured a full cargo of furs, to despatch 
the vessel to China under proper officers, and return 
himself across the continent to the United States, 
thus accomplishing the double object of a lucrative 
voyage, and a tour of discovery through an unexplor- 
ed wilderness of four thousand miles in extent. 
Afterwards he would join the expedition in the com- 
pany's service, either in France, or any other part 
of the world, as circumstances might dictate. Such 
was the compass of his desires ; yet he would have 
relinquished the idea of this exploratory tour, and 
rejoiced to engage in a voyage merely for commer- 
cial ends, if even that could have been effected. 

Several months were passed in unavailing efforts 



152 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

to conquer obstacles, which seemed to thicken as he 
advanced, and in vainly striving to enlighten igno- 
rance and overcome prejudice, till his perseverance 
could hold out no longer, and he was forced to 
abandon the thought of a voyage by sea to the 
Northwest Coast, either for trade or discovery. He 
continued in Paris, but felt himself, as he really was, 
a wanderer without employment or motive. With 
Mr Jefferson, the Marquis de la Fayette, Mr Barc- 
lay, the American consul, and other gentlemen of 
character and consequence, he was on terms of in- 
timacy. In this society, and enjoying the amuse- 
ments afforded in the capital of France, his time 
passed away agreeably enough, and in some of his 
letters he speaks of his happiness ; yet he was far 
from being satisfied ; he suffered under the pressure 
of want and a corroding sense of dependence ; and 
occasionally his finances were at so low an ebb, that 
he was compelled, however reluctantly, to be a pen- 
sioner on the bounty of his friends. So disinterested 
were his aims, however, and so entirely did he sac- 
rifice every selfish consideration in prosecuting 
them ; so benevolent was his disposition, and so en- 
larged his views of serving mankind, that no one 
considered favors of this sort in the light of obliga- 
tions conferred, nor so much acts of charity, as a 
just tribute to the singleness of his heart, the gene- 
rosity of his purposes, and the effective warmth of 
his zeal. 

A few miscellaneous extracts from his letters, writ- 
ten during the first months of his residence in Paris, 
may properly come in here. They will give some 
insight into his occupations, as well as his habit of 
observing events and objects in the great world 
around him. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 153 

" Paris is situated in an extended plain, rising on 
all sides into gradual elevations, and some little hills 
happily interspersed in the borders of its horizon. 
Its extent, viewed from the tower of Notre Dame, 
appeared to me less than London, though it must be 
larger. The public buildings are numerous, and 
some of them magnificent. Paris is the centre of 
France, and its centre is the Palais Royal, the resort 
of the greatest virtues and the greatest vices of such 
a kingdom. It is France in miniature, and no friend 
to France should ever see it. The Tuilleries afford 
a consummate display of artificial elegance and 
grandeur ; the gardens of the Luxembourg are much 
inferior. The Boulevards were originally fortifica- 
tions, and they now form a broad way that surrounds 
the city, separating it from the suburbs. It is well 
lined with fine umbrageous elms on each side, form- 
ing a beautiful course for coaches and horsemen ; 
but the farmers-general, to prevent illicit trade, are 
walling it in, at the expense of a thousand lamenta- 
tions of the Parisians, and several millions of livres. 
I have been once at the king's library. Papa 
Franklin, as the French here call him, is among a 
number of statues that I saw. The bust of Paul 
Jones is also there. Did you ever know, that Cap- 
tain Jones was two or three nights successively 
crowned with laurels, at the great Opera House in 
Paris, after the action between the Bon Homme 
Richard and the Serapis ? 

" I find at our minister's table between fifteen and 
twenty Americans, inclusive of two or three ladies. 
It is very remarkable, that we are neither despised 
nor envied for our love of liberty, but very often 
caressed. I was yesterday at Versailles. It was 
the feast of St Louis, but I never feasted so ill in 



154 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

my life, as at the hotel where I dined, and never 
paid so dear for a dinner. I was too late to see the 
procession of the king and queen, but I was little 
disappointed on that account, as I had already seen 
those baubles. The king I saw a fortnight before 
to very great advantage, being near to him while he 
was shooting partridges in the fields. He was dress- 
ed in common musqueto trowsers, a short linen 
frock, and an old laced hat without a cockade. He 
had an easy, gentlemanly appearance ; and had it 
not been for his few attendants, I should have taken 
him for the captain of a merchant ship, amusing 
himself in the field. The Palace at Versailles, and 
its gardens, are an ornament to the face of the globe. 
It was dirty weather. I wore boots, and conse- 
quently was prohibited from visiting the galleries. 
I was in company with our Mr Barclay, Colonel 
Franks of the American army, a young Virginian, 
and an English sea officer. Franks was booted too ; 
but though honest Tom Barclay was not, he had no 
bag on, and they were dismissed also ; so that boots 
on, and bags off, are sad recommendations at the 
court of Versailles." 

" If the two Fitzhughs remain in town a week 
longer, you shall have a week's detail. They dine 
with me to-day in my chamber, together with our 
worthy consul Barclay, and that lump of universali- 
ty, Colonel Franks. But such a set of moneyless 
rascals have never appeared, since the epoch of the 
happy villain Falstaff. I have but five French 
crowns in the world ; Franks has not a sol ; and the 
Fitzhughs cannot get their tobacco money. 

" Mr Jefferson is an able minister, and our coun- 
try may repose a confidence in him equal to their 
best wishes. Whether in public or private, he is, in 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 155 

every word and every action, the representative of a 
young, vigorous, and determined state. Hi3 only 
competitors here, even in political fame, are Ver- 
gennes and La Fayette. In other accomplishments 
he stands alone. The Marquis de la Fayette is one 
of the most growing characters in this kingdom. He 
has planted a tree in America, and sits under its 
shade at Versailles. He is now at the court of old 
Frederick. I am sure, that you could not yourself 
have manifested more alacrity to serve me, than he 
has done. The Marquis is a warm friend to Ameri- 
ca. It will be difficult for any subsequent plenipo- 
tentiary to have as much personal influence in France, 
as Dr Franklin had ; it will at least be so, till the 
causes, which created that venerable patriot's as- 
cendency, shall become less recent in the minds of 
the people. I had the pleasure of being but once 
at his house, before his departure, and although 
bent down with age and infirmities, the excellent old 
man exhibited all the good cheer of health, the gay 
philosopher, and the kindness of a friendly country- 
man." 

" It has been a holiday to-day ; the nativity of the 
Virgin Mary. My friend, the Abbe D'Aubrey, tells 
me, that they have but eighty-two holidays in the 
year, which are publicly regarded ; but this is a mis- 
take ; they have more. We both agree, that they 
have eighty-two less than they formerly had. There 
are certainly a hundred days in this city every year, 
whereon all the shops are shut, and there is a gene- 
ral suspension of busines ; for the good policy of 
which, let them look to it. You will hear in your 
papers of an affair, between a certain Cardinal and 
the Queen of France. It has been the topic of 
conversation here for thirty days ; and forty fools, 



156 LIFE 0F J0HN LEDYARD. 

that have expressed themselves too freely in the 
matter for the police, are already in the Bastile. 
We have news to day, that the king will have him 
tried by the Parliament, and has written to that 
dying meteor, the Pope, not to meddle in the busi- 
ness." 

" I was late home yesterday evening from the 
feast of St Cloud, held at a little town of that name 
on the .bank of the Seine. It is particularly remark- 
able for having the Queen's Gardens in it, and a 
house for the Queen, called a Palace. The chief 
circumstance, which renders the village a place of 
curiosity to strangers, is the waterworks, which, after 
the labor of many years and vast expense, exhibit a 
sickly cascade, and three jets (Teaii, or fountains, 
that cast water into the air. The largest of these 
throws out a column as big as a man's arm, which 
rises about thirty yards. In the evening I entered 
a part of the gardens, where some fireworks were 
played off. The tickets were twenty-four sols. 
The fireworks were very few, but good. This little 
rustic entertainment of the Queen's, was with great 
propriety attended with very little parade about her 
person. It was a mere rural revel, and never be- 
fore did I see majesty and tag-rag so philosophically 
blended ; a few country fiddlers scraping, and Kate 
of the mill tripping it with Dick of the vineyard. 

"Thus you see how some few of my days pass 
away. I see a great deal, and think a great deal, 
but derive little pleasure from either, because I am 
forced into both, and am alone in both." 

By these methods he endeavoured to amuse him- 
self, and forget his favorite scheme of traversing the 
western continent, and ascertaining its physical 
character and commercial resources ; but this was 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 157 

not possible ; it had taken too strong a hold of him to 
admit of being driven altogether from his mind. As 
fate seemed to throw difficulties insurmountable in 
the way of a passage by sea, he bethought himself 
of the only remaining expedient, by which a part of 
his original design might be carried into execution ; 
and that was, to travel by land through the northern 
regions of Europe and Asia, cross over Bering's 
Strait to the American continent, and pursue his 
route thence down the coast, and to the interior, in 
such a manner as the exigencies of his condition 
might point out to him when on the spot. 

The first object requiring attention, was to gain 
permission of the empress of Russia to pass through 
her immense territories to Kamtschatka. Mr Jeffer- 
son, who heartily approved the project, interested 
himself in this preliminary measure, and applied to 
M. de Simoulin, minister plenipotentiary from Rus- 
sia at the court of France, and especially to the 
Baron de Grimm, minister from Saxe-Gotha at the 
same court. Grimm was a correspondent and pri- 
vate agent of the Empress, and would be likely to 
have as much influence with her in a matter of this 
sort, as her public minister. Both these gentlemen 
very readily acceded to Mr Jefferson's request, and 
made in his name a direct application to the Em- 
press, soliciting permission for Ledyard, in the char- 
acter of an American citizen, to travel through her 
dominions. As haste is not a characteristic of 
transactions of this sort with crowned heads, the 
impatient traveller resolved to busy himself in the 
best manner he could, at least till a reasonable time 
should elapse for a reply. In the interim he retired 
to St Germain, where he afterwards commonly re- 
sided during his stay in France. The letter, which 
14 



158 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

contains the following passages, is dated at St Ger- 
main, on the eighth of April, 1786. 

" If Congress should yet be at New York, this 
will be delivered to you by my friend, and almost 
every body's friend, Colonel Humphreys, whom you 
knew in days of yore. He is secretary to our le- 
gation at the court of France, has a good head and 
a good heart ; but his hobby is poetry, and as the 
English reviewers allow him merit therein, I may 
very safely venture to do it. He is a friendly, good 
soul, a sincere yankee, and so affectionately fond 
of his country, that to be in his society here is at 
least as good to me, as a dream of being at home. 
I imagine he takes despatches ; but as we are repub- 
licans a little more polished, than on your side of 
the water, we never presume to ask impertinent 
questions. 

" You have doubtless by this time received my 
letters by Mr Barrett. Your hearing from me so 
often by those, who intimately know my situation, 
and who are so much my friends, is a happy cir- 
cumstance ; but I would freely have relinquished 
the pleasure, which I take in writing this letter, to 
have been where I supposed I should be when I 
wrote you last. But soon after the departure of Mr 
Barrett, our minister, the Russian minister, and the 
Marquis de la Fayette, took it into their heads, that I 
should not go directly to Petersburg, but wait till I 
was sent for, which is the occasion of my being here 
to write you at this time. You see that I have so 
many friends, that I cannot do just as I please. I 
am very well in health. A gracious Providence, 
and the Indian corn diet of my childhood, added to 
the robust scenes I have since passed through, have 
left me at the same age at which my father died, 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 159 

* healthy, active, vigorous, and strong.' * I am for 
a few weeks at the little town where my letter is 
dated, and as I live upon the skirt of a royal forest, 
I am every day in it, and it is usual for me to run 
two miles an end and return. I am like one of 
Swift's Houyhnhnms. Ask Humphreys if I did 
not walk into Paris last week, and return to dine 
with Madam Barclay the same morning, a distance 
equal at least to twenty-four of our miles. But this 
is not the work of nature ; she made me a voluptu- 
ous, pensive animal, intended for the tranquil scenes 
of domestic life, for ease and contemplation, and a 
thousand other fine soft matters, that I have thought 
nothing about, since I was in love with R. E. of 
Stonington. What fate intends further, I leave to 
fate ; but it is very certain, that there has ever been 
a great difference between the manner of life I have 
actually led, and that which I should have chosen ; 
and this is not to be attributed more, perhaps, to the 
irregular incidents that have alternately caressed and 
insulted me, than to the irregularity of my genius. 
Tom Barclay, our consul, who knows mankind and 
me very well, tells me that he never saw such a 
medley as in me. The Virginian gentlemen here call 
me Oliver Cromwell, and say, that, like him, I shall 
be ' damn'd to fame ' ; but I have never dared to 
prophesy, however, that it would be by a Virginian 
poet. 

" I every hour expect my summons to Peters- 
burg from the Russian minister. I shall have a de- 
lightful season to pass through Germany, though it 
does not suit my tour well. I shall lose a season by 



* A line from his father's tombstone ; he died at the age of 
thirty-five. 



160 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

it I am not certain about the result of this business, 
and shall not be perfectly at ease, till I have been 
introduced to the Empress." 

From a remark above, it may be inferred, that 
Ledyard wished to begin his journey to Petersburg 
before any intelligence had been received by the 
Russian minister in reply to his application. His 
principle motive doubtless was, that he might take 
advantage of the season, and reaeh Siberia so far in 
anticipation of the severest parts of the winter, as not 
to be blocked up for several months by the snows 
in that frigid region. His advisers considered such 
a step ill judged ; inasmuch as a formal petition had 
been sent to the Empress, and it would evince a 
want of proper respect to set out on the journey, be- 
fore her answer had been returned, however strong 
might be the probability that her consent would be 
granted. These points of etiquette were overlooked 
by the traveller, in his eagerness to be on the road ; 
and he moreover thought the business might as well 
be settled at the court of the Empress in Petersburg 
as through her minister in Paris. The event proved 
his impressions not to be ill founded. His forebod- 
ings were verified, for he was kept in daily expec- 
tation for more than five months, without receiving 
an answer, or hearing anything on the subject either 
from M. de Simoulin, or the Baron de Grimm. 
His last letter from France is a very long one, dated 
at St Germain, the eighth of August, 1786. It touch- 
es on a great variety of topics, and was written at 
different times. 

" Since I wrote to you by Colonel Humphreys," 
says he to his friend, " I have been at St Germain, 
waiting the issue of my affair at Petersburg. You 
wonder by what means I exist, having brought with 






LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. \Q\ 

me to Paris this time twelve months only three louis 
d'ors. Ask vice-consuls, consuls, ministers, and 
plenipotentiaries, all of whom have been tributary to 
me. You think I joke. No, upon my honor ; and, 
however irreconcileable to my temper, disposition, 
and education, it is nevertheless strictly true. Ev- 
ery day of my life, my dear cousin, is a day of ex- 
pectation, and consequently a day of disappointment. 
Whether I shall have a morsel of bread to eat at 
the end of two months, is as much an uncertainty, 
as it was fourteen months ago, and not more 
so. The near approach, that I have so often 
made to each extreme of happiness and distress, 
without absolutely entering into either, has ren- 
dered me so hardy, that I can meet either with 
composure. 

" Permit me to relate to you an incident. About 
a fortnight ago, Sir James Hall, an English gentle- 
man, on his way from Paris to Cherbourg, stopped 
his coach at our door, and came up to my chamber. 
I was in bed at six o'clock in the morning, but hav- 
ing flung on my robe de chambre, I met him at the 
door of the antechamber. I was glad to see him, but 
surprised. He observed, that he had endeavoured 
to make up his opinion of me with as much exact- 
ness as possible, and concluded that no kind of visit 
whatever would surprise me. I could do no other- 
wise than remark, that his opinion surprised me at 
least, and the conversation took another turn. In 
walking across the chamber, he laughingly put his 
hand on a six livre piece and a louis d'or, that lay on 
my table, and with a half stifled blush, asked me 
how I was in the money way. Blushes commonly 
beget blushes, and I blushed partly because he did, 
and partly on other accounts. ' If fifteen guineas,' 
14* 



162 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

said he, interrupting the answer he had demanded, 
1 will be of any service to you, there they are,' and 
he put them on the table. 'lama traveller myself, 
and though I have some fortune to support my trav- 
els, yet I have been so situated as to want money, 
which you ought not to do. You have my address 
in London.' He then wished me a good morning 
and left me. This gentleman was a total stranger 
to the situation of my finances, and one that I had 
by mere accident met at an ordinary in Paris. We 
had conversed together several times, and he once 
sent his carriage for me to dine with him. I found 
him handsomely lodged in the best Fauxbourg in 
the city. Two members of the British House of 
Commons, two lords, Beaumarchais, and several 
members of the Royal Academy, were at his table. 
He had seen me two or three times after that, and al- 
ways expressed the highest Opinion of the tour I had 
determined to make, and said he would, as a citizen 
of the world, do anything in his power to promote 
it ; but I had no more idea of receiving money from 
him, than I have this moment of receiving it from 
Tippoo Saib. However, I took it without any hes- 
itation, and told him I would be as complaisant to 
him, if ever occasion offered." 

" I have once visited the Foundling Hospital, and 
the Hospital de Dieu, in Paris ; twice I never shall. 
Not all the morality from Confucius to Addison could 
give me such feelings. Eighteen foundlings were 
brought the day of my visit. One was brought in 
while I was there. Dear little innocents ! But you 
are, happily, insensible of your situations. Where 
are your unfortunate mothers ? Perhaps in the ad- 
joining hospital ; they have to feel for you and them- 
selves too. But where is the wretch, the villain, the 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 163 

monster — ? I was not six minutes in the house. It 
is customary to leave a few pence ; I flung down six 
livres and retired. Determined to persevere, I con- 
tinued my visit over the way to the Hospital de Dieu. 
I entered first the apartments of the women. ' Why 
will you, my dear sisters,' I was going to say, as I pass- 
ed along between the beds in ranks, ' why will you be ' 
— but I was interrupted by a melancholy figure, that 
appeared at its last gasp, or already dead. ' She 's 
dead,' said I to a German gentleman, who was with 
me, ' and nobody knows or cares anything about it.' 
We approached the bedside. I observed a slight mo- 
dulatory motion in one of the jugular arteries. ' She 's 
not dead,' said I, and seized her hand to search for 
her pulse. I hoped to find life, but it was gone. 
The word dead being again pronounced, brought the 
nuns to the bed. ' My God ! ' exclaimed the head 
nun, ' she 's dead ; ' — ' Jesu, Maria ! ' exclaimed the 
other nunSj in their defence, ' she 's dead.' The 
head nun scolded the others for their mal-attendence. 
' My God ! ' continued she, ' she is dead without 
the form.' ' Dieu ! ' said the others, ' she died so 
silently.' ' Silence,' said the elder, ' perhaps she is 
not dead ; say the form.' The form was said, and 
the sheet thrown over her face." 

" While in Normandy I was at the seat of Con- 
flans, the successor of him, who was so unfortunate 
in a naval affair with Hawke of England. It is the 
lordship of the manor. The peasants live and die 
at the smiles or frowns of their lord, and, avaricious 
of the former, they fly to communicate to him any 
uncommon occurrence in the village ; and such they 
thought our arrival. The place, to be sure, is very 
remote, and the gentleman I accompanied, who was an 
Englishman, rode in a superb manner. His coach 



164 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

and servants were in a very elegant style. M. Con- 
flans was informed of it. On that day it was my 
turn to cater, and the little country taverns in France 
are such, as oblige one to cook for himself, if he 
would eat. I was consequently very busy in the 
kitchen. The Otaheite marks on my hands were 
discovered ; the mistress and the maids asked our 
servants the history of so strange a sight. They 
were answered that I was a gentleman, who had 
been round the world. It was enough ; Conflans 
knew of it, and sent a billet, written in good Eng- 
lish, to inquire if we would permit him the honor of 
seeing us at his mansion ; and, if he could be thus 
distinguished, he would come and wait on us thither 
himself. It was too late ; the Englishman and I 
had begun pell-mell upon a joint of roast. If Jove 
himself had sent a card by Blanchard inviting us, it 
would have been all one. We would honor our- 
selves with waiting on the Marquis de Conflans in the 
evening. We did so, and we could not but be pleas- 
ed with the reception we met with; it was in the 
true character of a French nobleman." 

" I took a walk to Paris this morning, and saw the 
Marquis de la Fayette. He is a good man, this 
same Marquis. I esteem him, and even love him, 
and so we all do, except some few, who worship 
him. I make these trips to Paris often ; sometimes 
to dine with this amiable Frenchman, and sometimes 
with our minister who is a brother to me. I am too 
much alive to care and ambition to sit still. The 
unprofitable life I have led goads me ; I would wil- 
lingly crowd as much merit as possible into the au- 
tumn and winter of it. Like Milton's hero in Para- 
dise Lost (who happens by the way to be the evil 
one himself), it behoves me now to use both oar and 
sail to gain my port. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 165 

" The Paris papers of to-day announce the dis- 
covery of some valuable gold mines in Montgomery 
county, Virginia, which I rejoice to hear ; but I hope 
they will not yield too much of it, for, as Poor 
Richard says, 'too much of one thing is good for 
nothing.' All that I can say is, that, if too much of 
it is as bad as too Utile, the Lord help you, as he 
has me, who, in spite of my poverty, am hearty and 
cheerful. "I die with anxiety to be on the back of 
the American States, after having either come from 
or penetrated to the Pacific ocean. There is an 
extensive field for the acquirement of honest fame. 
A blush of generous regret sits on my cheek, when I 
hear of any discovery there, which I have had no part 
in, and particularly at this auspicious period. The 
American Revolution invites to a thorough discovery 
of the continent j and the honor of doing it would 
become a foreigner, but a native only can feel the 
genuine pleasure of the achievement. It was neces- 
sary, that a European should discover the existence 
of that continent, but, in the name of Amor Patrice, 
let a native explore its resources and boundaries. 
It is my wish to be the man. I will not yet resign 
that wish, nor my pretensions to that distinction. 
Farewell for the present. I have just received in- 
telligence, which hurries me to London. What fate 
intends is always a secret ; fortitude is the word. I 
leave this letter with my brother and my father, our 
minister. He will send it by the first conveyance. 
Adieu." 

The intelligence here alluded to, was from his ec- 
centric friend, Sir James Hall, who had returned to 
London. In six days Ledyard was with him in the 
British capital. He there found an English ship in 
complete readiness to sail for the Pacific ocean. Sir 



166 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

James Hall introduced him to the owners, who im- 
mediately offered him a free passage in the vessel, 
with the promise, that he should be set on shore at 
any place on the Northwest Coast, which he might 
choose. The merchants, no doubt, hoped to profit 
somewhat by his knowledge and experience, and he 
could not object to such an exchange, as these were 
his only possessions. One of Cook's officers was 
also going out in the same vessel. The day before he 
was to go on board, Ledyard wrote to Mr Jefferson 
in the following animated strain. 

" Sir James Hall presented me with twenty guin- 
eas pro bono publico. I bought two great dogs, an 
Indian pipe, and a hatchet. My want of time, as 
well as of money, will prevent my going any other- 
wise than indifferently equipped for such an enter- 
prise ; but it is certain, that I shall be more in want 
before I see Virginia. Why should I repine ? You 
know how much I owe the amiable La Fayette. 
Will you do me the honor to present my most grateful 
thanks to him ? If I find in my travels a mountain, 
as much elevated above other mountains, as he is 
above ordinary men, I will name it La Fayette. I 
beg the honor, also, of my compliments to Mr Short, 
who has been my friend, and who, like the good 
widow in Scripture, cast in not only his mite, but 
more than he was able, for my assistance." 

The equipment of two dogs, an Indian pipe, and a 
hatchet, it must be confessed, was very scanty for a 
journey across a continent ; but they were selected 
with an eye to their uses. The dogs would be his 
companions, and assist him in taking wild animals 
for food, the pipe was an emblem of peace to the 
Indians, and the hatchet would serve many purposes 
of convenience and utility. His choice could not 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 167 

have fallen, perhaps, upon three more essential re- 
quisites for a solitary traveller among savages and 
wild beasts ; they would enable him to provide for 
his defence, and procure a friendly reception, cover- 
ing, and sustenance. All these were necessary, and 
must be the first objects of his care. 

His plan was fully arranged before entering the 
ship. He determined to land at Nootka Sound, 
where he had passed some time 1 ] with Cook's expe- 
dition, and thence strike directly into the interior, 
and pursue his course as fortune should guide him to 
Virginia. By his calculation, the voyage and tour 
would take him about three years. He was much 
gratified with the reception he met in London, 
and particularly from Sir Joseph Banks, and some 
other gentlemen of science, who entered warmly 
into his designs. It was believed, that his dis- 
coveries would not fail to add valuable improve- 
ments to geography and natural history ; and there 
was a romantic daring in the enterprise itself, well 
suited to gain the applause of ardent and liberal 
minds. Thus encouraged, his enthusiasm rose higher 
than ever, and his impatience to embark increased 
every moment. 

While in Paris the preceding year, he had be- 
come acquainted with Colonel Smith, Secretary of 
Legation to Mr Adams, at that time American min- 
ister in London. Colonel Smith befriended him 
after his arrival in England, and, conceiving the 
journey he was about to undertake, as promising to 
be highly important to America, he wrote an ac- 
count of it to Mr Jay, then Secretary of Foreign 
Affairs in the United States. After a few remarks 
relative to Ledyard's previous attempts and objects, 
Colonel Smith proceeds ; 



168 LI FE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

" In consequence of some allurements from an 
English nobleman at Paris, he came here with the 
intention of exploring the Northwest Coast and 
country ; and a vessel being on the point of sailing 
for that coast, after supplying himself with a few 
necessary articles for his voyage and march, he pro- 
cured a passage with a promise from the captain to 
land him on the western coast, from which he means 
to attempt a march through the Indian nations to the 
back parts of the Atlantic states, for the purpose of 
examining the country and its inhabitants ; and he 
expects to be able to make his way through, possess- 
ed of such information of the country and people, 
as will be of great advantage to ours. This remains 
to be proved. It is a daring, wild attempt. Deter- 
mined to pursue the object, he embarked the last 
week, free and independent of the world, pursuing 
his plan unembarrassed by contract or obligation. 
If he succeeds, and in the course of two or three 
years should visit our country by this amazing cir- 
cuit, he may bring with him some interesting infor- 
mation. If he fails, and is never heard of more, 
which I think most probable, there is no harm done. 
He dies in an unknown country, and if he composes 
himself in his last moments with the reflection that 
his project was great, and the undertaking what few 
men are capable of, it will to his mind soothe the 
passage. He is perfectly calculated for the attempt, 
robust and healthy, and has an immense passion to 
make discoveries, which will benefit society, and en- 
sure him, agreeably to his own expression, ' a small 
degree of honest fame.' It may not be improper for 
your excellency to be acquainted with these circum- 
stances, and you are the best judge of the propriety 
of extending them further." 



I, 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 1^9 

The vessel went down the Thames from Deptford, 
and in a few days put to sea. Ledyard thought it 
the happiest moment of his life. But alas ! how 
uncertain are human expectations. Again was he 
doomed to suffer the agonies of a disappointment 
more severe than any that had preceded, because 
never before were his wishes so near their consum- 
mation. He looked upon the great obstacles ,as 
overcome, and regarded himself as beyond the reach 
of fortune's caprice. This delusion soon vanished. 
The vessel was not out of sight of land, before it 
was brought back by an order from the govern- 
ment, and the voyage was finally broken off. He 
went back to London, as may be supposed, with a 
heavy heart. A month afterwards he wrote to Dr 
Ledyard, 

"I am still the slave of fortune and the son of 
care. You will be surprised that I am yet in Lon- 
don, unless you will conclude with me, that, after 
what has happened, nothing can be surprising. I 
think my last letter informed you, that I was abso- 
lutely embarked on board a ship in the Thames, 
bound to the Northwest Coast of America. This 
will inform you, that I have disembarked from said 
ship, on account of her having been unfortunately 
seized by the customhouse, and eventually ex- 
chequered ; and that I am obliged in consequence to 
alter my route ; and, in short, everything, all my 
little baggage — shield, buckler, lance, dogs, squire, — 
all gone. I only am left ; — left to what ? To some 
riddle, I '11 warrant you ; or, at all events, I will not 
warrant anything else. My heart is too much troub- 
led at this moment to write you as I ought to do. 
I will only add, that I am going in a few days to 
make the tour of the globe from London east on 
15 



170 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

foot. I dare not write you more, nor introduce you 
to the real state of my affairs. Farewell. Fortitude ! 
Adieu." 

By this it will be seen, that his Siberian project 
was again revived ; and, in fact, a subscription to aid 
him in this object had already been commenced in 
London, under the patronage of Sir Joseph Banks, 
Dr Hunter, Sir James Hall, and Colonel Smith. " I 
fear my subscription will be small," he says, in a let- 
ter to Mr Jefferson ; "it adds to my anxiety to reach 
those dominions, where I shall not want money. I 
do not mean the dominions, that may be beyond 
death. I shall never wish to die, while you and the 
Marquis are alive. I am going across Siberia, as I 
before intended." The amount collected by his 
friends is not mentioned, but it was such, as to in- 
duce him to set out upon the journey ; which, in- 
deed, he probably would have done, had he obtained 
no money at all. He had lived too long by expedi- 
ents, to be stopped in his career by an obstacle so 
trifling in his imagination as the want of money ; and 
he was panting to get to a country, where its use 
was unknown, and where of course the want of it 
would not be felt. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 171 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Ledyard proceeds to Hamburg. — Goes to Copenhagen, where he 
meets MajorLangborn, another American traveller. — Endeavours 
to persuade Langbom to accompany him in his tour, but in vain. 
— Continues his route to Sweden, and is disappointed in not 
being able to cross the Gulf of Bothnia on the ice. — Journey 
round the Gulf into the Arctic Circle on foot, through Sweden, 
Lapland, and Finland. — Maupertuis's description of the cold at 
Tornea. — Arrives at Petersburg, where he is befriended by Pro- 
fessor Pallas and others. — Procures a passport from the Empress, 
through the agency of Count Segur, the French ambassador. — 
Sets out for Siberia, and travels by way of Moscow to Kazan, a 
town on the river Wolga. — Crosses the Uralian Mountains. — 
Some account of the city of Tobolsk. — Proceeds to Barnaoul 
and Tomsk. — Descriptions of the country and the inhabitants. 
— Character and condition of the exiles at Tomsk. — Fossil 
Bones. — Curious mounds and tombs of the ancient natives. — 
Arrives at Irkutsk. . 

Leaving London in December, Ledyard went over 
to Hamburg, whence he immediately wrote to Colo- 
nel Smith. From the account of his finances con- 
tained in that letter, it would not seem that he was 
encumbered, at his departure from England, with 
a heavy purse. He makes no complaint however ; 
on the contrary, he expresses only joy, that the 
journey, which he had so long desired, was actually 
begun. 

" I am here," he says, " with ten guineas exactly, 
and in perfect health. One of my dogs is no more. 
I lost him on my passage up the river Elbe to Ham- 
burg, in a snow storm. I was out in it forty hours 
in an open boat. My other faithful companion is 
under the table on which I write. I dined to day 
with Madam Parish, lady of the gentleman I men- 
tioned to you. It is a Scotch house of the first 
commercial distinction here. The Scotch have by 
nature a dignity of sentiment, that renders them ac- 



172 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

complished. I could go to heaven with Madam 
Parish, but she had some people at her table, that I 
could not go to heaven with. I cannot submit to a 
haughty eccentricity of manners. My fate has sent 
me to the tavern, where Major Langborn was three 
weeks. He is now at Copenhagen, having left his 
baggage here to be sent on to him. By some mis- 
take he has not received it, and has written to the 
master of the hotel on the subject. I shall write to 
him, and give him my address at Petersburg. I 
should wish to see him at all events, but to have him 
accompany me on my voyage would be a pleasure 
indeed." 

This Major Langborn turns out to be an American 
officer, lately arrived in Hamburg from Newcastle, 
" a very good kind of a man, and an odd kind of a 
man," as the master of the hotel called him, one 
who had travelled much, and was fond of travelling 
in his own way. He had gone off to Copenhagen 
without his baggage, taking with him only one spare 
shirt, and very few other articles of clothing. It 
does not appear that Ledyard had ever been ac- 
quainted with Langborn, or even seen him ; but he 
had heard such a description of him from Colonel 
Smith, and others, that in fancy he had become 
enamoured of the originality and romantic turn of 
his character, and particularly of his passion for 
travelling. Carried away with this whimsical pre- 
possession, he had got it into his head, that Langborn 
was the fittest man in the world to be the companion 
of his travels. An imaginary resemblance between 
their pursuits, condition, and the bent of their genius, 
created a sympathy, that was not to be resisted. 
He moreover suspected from hints, which he saw 
in Langborn's letter, inquiring about his trunk, that 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 173 

he was in want, of money. Here was another appeal 
to his generosity, and one which he could never suf- 
fer to be made in vain, while he had ten guineas in 
his pocket. " 1 will fly to him with my little all, 
and some clothes, and lay them at his feet. At this 
moment I may be useful to him ; he is my country- 
man, a gentleman, a traveller. He may go with me 
on my journey 5 if he does, I am blessed ; if not, I 
shall merit his attention, and shall not be much out 
of my way to Petersburg." * 

With this state of his feelings it is not wonderful, 
that we should next hear from him at Copenhagen. 
He hastened' on to that city, and arrived there about 
the first of January, 1787, although it was taking 
him far aside from his direct course, and exposing 
him to all the fatigues and perils of a long, tedious 
winter passage through Sweden and Finland. He 
found Langborn in a very awkward situation, with- 
out money or friends, and shut up in his room for the 
want of decent apparel to appear abroad in ; and, 
what was worse, incurring the suspicions of those 
around him, that he was some vagabond, or despe- 
rate character, whose conduct had rendered it ex- 
pedient for him to keep out of sight. Imagination 
only can paint the joy, that glowed in our traveller's 
countenance, when he saw the remains of his ten 
guineas slip from his fingers," to relieve the distresses 
of his new found friend. All that could now be said 
of them was, that their poverty was equalized ; the 
Major could walk abroad, and his benefactor had not 
means to carry him beyond the bounds of the city. 
The road to Petersburg was many hundred miles 
long, through snows, and over ice, and presenting 
obstacles enough at that season to appal the stoutest 
heart, even with all the facilities for travelling, which 
15* 






174 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 



gold could purchase. What then was the prospect 
for a moneyless pedestrian ? 

These reflections were not suffered to intrude 
upon the pleasures of the moment. His money was 
gone, it was true, but a worthy man, and a traveller, 
had been made happier by it. How he should ad- 
vance further, was a thing to be thought of to-morrow, 
yet the doubt never came into his mind, that any- 
thing could stop him, when the time should arrive 
for him to move forward. Neither confidence nor 
fortitude ever forsook him. Two weeks were 
agreeably passed in the society of Langborn, but no 
inducements could prevail on him to undertake the 
Siberian tour, much less to hazard the dangerous 
experiment of entrusting himself among the wild 
barbarians of North America. His humor was not 
of this sort, yet it was scarcely less peculiar, than if 
it had been. " I see in him," says Ledyard to Colo- 
nel Smith, " the soldier, the countryman, and the 
generous friend ; but he would hang me if he knew 
I had written a word about him ; and so I will say 
no more, than just to inform you, that he means to 
wander this winter through Norway, Swedish Lap- 
land, and Sweden ; and in the spring to visit Peters- 
burg. I asked to attend him through this route to 
Petersburg ; — ' No ; I esteem you, but I can travel 
in the way I do with no man on earth.' " After this 
avowal, the Major certainly merits the praise of 
frankness, if not of compliance ; and Ledyard must 
have possessed a larger share of practical philosophy, 
than falls to the lot of most men, to have been per- 
fectly reconciled to this abrupt declaration, after 
coming so far out of his way, and spending much 
time and all his money in search of a companion 
who, he fondly hoped, would participate in his adven- 
tures. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 175 

When this visit of friendship was closed, and the 
hour of departure approached, the necessity was 
pressed upon him of looking about for money. He 
drew a small bill on Colonel Smith, and good for- 
tune put in his way a merchant, who consented to 
accept it, and pay him the amount. " Thompson's 
goodness to me," he writes to Colonel Smith, " in 
accepting the bill on you, relying on my honor, has 
saved me from perdition, and will enable me to reach 
Petersburg." A small sum, to meet such an exi- 
gency, had been left in Colonel Smith's hands, but 
not to the full amount of the draft. Ledyard apolo- 
gizes for the addition, and tells his friend, that he 
must put it to the account of charity, for his neces- 
sities only had compelled him to overdraw. The 
draft was kindly accepted by Colonel Smith, when it 
came to hand. Thus replenished, our traveller 
parted from the eccentric Major, crossed over into 
Sweden, and arrived in Stockholm towards the end 
of January.* 

The common mode of travelling from Stockholm 
to Petersburg in the summer season, is to cross the 
Gulf of Bothnia to Abo in Finland by water, touch- 



* Langborn pursued his route, as he had proposed, wandering 
over Sweden, Norway, and Lapland. The summer following he 
arrived in Tornea, at the proper season for witnessing the sight, 
which has drawn other travellers to that place. Tornea is hut a 
few miles south of the Arctic Circle, and at the time of the sum- 
mer solstice the sun appears above the horizon, as observed by 
Maupertuis, " for several days together without setting." Travel- 
lers are then favored with what is called "a view of the sun at 
midnight." Acerbi was there in 1799, and he mentions Langborn. 
In the church of Jukasjeroi, a town at some distance to the north 
of Tornea, and the Ultima Thule of travellers in that direction, 
there is a book in which are written the names of visiters, with 
such remarks as their humor prompted them to indite. These are 
copied into Acerbi's Travels, amounting to only seven in number. 
The first record was by Regnard, on the 18th of August, 1681. 



176 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

ing at the isles of Aland on the passage. In winter 
the same route is pursued, when the sea is frozen so 
hard as to admit of sledges being drawn from one 
island to another on the ice. The greatest distance 
to be passed over in this manner, without touching 
land, is about thirty miles. Under the most favora- 
ble circumstances this passage is troublesome and 
dangerous. It is well described by Acerbi. " My 
astonishment was greatly increased," says he, " in 
proportion as we advanced from our starting-post. 
The sea, at first smooth and even, became more and 
more rough and unequal. It assumed, as we pro- 
ceeded, an undulating appearance, resembling the 
waves by which it had been agitated. At length we 
met with masses of ice heaped one upon the other, 
and some of them seeming as if they were suspend- 
ed in the air, while others were raised in the form 
of pyramids. On the whole, they exhibited a picture 
of the wildest and most savage confusion, that sur- 
prised the eye by the novelty of its appearance. It 
was an immense chaos of icy ruins, presented to 
view under every possible form, and embellished by 
superb stalactites of a blue green color." Over 
this rough surface, and between the broken waves 
of ice, the passengers are drawn in sledges, muffled 
up in wolf skins and other furs. The chief danger 



The following is a literal transcript of another. " Justice bids me 
record thy hospitable fame, and testify it by my name. W. Lang- 
born, United States. July 23d, 1787." This was six months after 
Ledyard left him in Copenhagen. Acerbi says he was travelling on 
foot from Norway to Archangel. 

There is another record in the Album of Jukasjeroi, entered by a 
character noted for his singularities, and his passion for rambling, 
and who is still remembered in the United States, as well as in 
many other parts of the world, by the name of the Walking 
Stevsart. " Non mihi fama, sed hospitalitatis et gratitudinis testi- 
monium. S. Stewart, Civis Orbis. 3° Julii, 1787." 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 177 

consists in the sledges' being repeatedly upset, and 
the horses' sometimes taking fright, and running 
away like wild deer. Acerbi had a serious adven- 
ture of this sort, but he luckily escaped without harm, 
as he did from many other adventures, which await- 
ed him in his travels to the North Cape. 

This is the method of crossing the Gulf of Bothnia 
in common seasons ; but there is occasionally an open 
winter, when it is impassable, either by water or on 
the ice, for if the passage does not freeze entirely 
over, the water contains so much floating ice that no 
vessel can sail through it. When this happens, the 
only way of going to Petersburg is around the Gulf, 
a distance of twelve hundred miles, over trackless 
snows, in regions thinly peopled, where the nights are 
long and the cold intense, and all this to gain no more 
than fifty miles. 

Such was unfortunately the condition of the ice, 
when Ledyard arrived at the usual place of crossing. 
It had not been frozen solid from the beginning of 
the winter, and no traveller could pass. Of all his 
disappointments, none had afflicted him more severely 
than this. The only alternative was, either to stay 
in Stockholm till the spring should open, or to go 
around the Gulf into Lapland, and seek his way 
from the Arctic Circle to Petersburg, through the 
whole extent of Finland ; and in either case he 
foresaw, that he should arrive so late in Russia, that 
another season would be wasted in Siberia, before 
he could cross to the American continent. The 
single circumstance, therefore, of the passage to Abo 
being thus obstructed, was likely to keep him back 
a full year from the attainment of his grand object. 
But he did not deliberate long. He could not en- 
dure inactivity, and new difficulties nerved him with 



178 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

new strength to encounter and subdue them. He 
set out for Tornea in the heart of winter, afoot and 
alone, without money or friends, on a road almost 
unfrequented at that frightful season, and with the 
gloomy certainty resting on his mind, that he must 
travel northward six hundred miles, before he could 
turn his steps towards a milder climate, and then six 
or seven hundred more in descending to Petersburg, 
on the other side of the Gulf. 

When Maupertuis and his companions were about 
leaving Stockholm, on their journey to Tornea, for 
the purpose of measuring a degree of the meridian 
under the Polar Circle, the King of Sweden told 
them, that " it was not without sensible concern, 
that he saw them pursue so desperate an undertak- 
ing;" yet they were prepared with every possible 
convenience for travelling, and protection against the 
rigors of a northern winter. A better idea of the 
degree and effects of cold, at the head of the Gulf, 
cannot be formed, perhaps, than from Maupertuis's 
description. " The town of Tornea, at our arrival 
on the thirtieth of December, had really a most 
frightful aspect. Its little houses were buried to the 
tops in snow, which, if there had been any daylight, 
must have effectually shut it out. But the snows 
continually falling, or ready to fall, for the most part 
hid the sun the few moments, that he might have 
showed himself at mid-day. In the month of Janu- 
ary the cold was increased to that extremity, that 
Reaumur's mercurial thermometers, which in Paris, 
jn the great frost of 1709, it was thought strange to 
see fall to fourteen degrees below the freezing point, 
were now down to thirty-seven. The spirit of wine 
Jn the others was frozen. If we opened the door of 
a warm room, the external air instantly converted all 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. ] 79 

the air in it into snow, whirling it round in white 
vortexes. If we went abroad, we felt as if the air 
were tearing our breasts in pieces. And the crack- 
ing of the wood whereof the houses are built, as if 
the violence of the cold split it, continually alarmed 
us with an approaching increase of cold. The soli- 
tude of the streets was no less, than if the inhabi- 
tants had been all dead ; and in this country you 
may often see people that have been maimed, and 
had an arm or a leg frozen off. The cold, which is 
always very great, increases sometimes by such vio- 
lent and sudden fits, as are almost infallibly fatal to 
those, that happen to be exposed to it. Sometimes 
there arise sudden tempests of snow, that are still 
more dangerous. The winds seem to blow from all 
quarters at once, and drive about the snow with such 
fury, that in a moment all the roads are lost. Un- 
happy he, who is seized by such a storm in the fields. 
His acquaintance with the country, or the marks 
he may have taken by the trees, cannot avail him. 
He is blinded by the snow, and lost if he stirs but a 
step."* 

These were the scenes, that awaited our pedestri- 
an in his winter excursion to the Polar Circle. How 
far they were realized by him must be now left to 
conjecture. No part of his journal during this tour 
has been preserved, nor is it known what course he 
took from Tornea to Petersburg. The common 
route is along the border of the Gulf to Abo, but in 
winter the road is much obstructed by ice, and is 
extremely bad. Linnaeus passed it in September, 
when returning from his scientific tour to Lapland, 

* See Maupertuis's Discourse before the Royal Academy of Sci- 
ences in Paris. November 13th, 1737. 



180 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

and he estimates the distance from Tornea to Abo 
at upwards of six hundred English miles. From a 
remark in Ledyard's letter to Mr Jefferson, which 
will be quoted below, it would seem, that he took a 
different direction, and passed farther into the interi- 
or of Russian Finland. This route, as he intimates, 
must have been wholly unfrequented by travellers, 
although the distance must be shorter, and at that 
season perhaps the difficulties to be encountered were 
not greater, than down the Gulf. 

Be this as it may, he reached Petersburg before 
the twentieth of March, that is, within seven weeks 
of the time of leaving Stockholm, making the ave- 
rage distance travelled about two hundred miles a 
week. It is evident, therefore, that he met with no 
obstacles, which his resolution did not speedily over- 
come. His letter to Mr Jefferson, dated Petersburg, 
March 19th, 1787, will acquaint us with the state of 
his feelings, and his prospects, at this stage of his 
travels. 

" It will be one of the remaining pleasures of my 
life, to thank you for the many instances of your 
friendship, and, wherever I am, to pursue you with 
the tale of my gratitude. If Mr Barclay should be 
at Paris, let him rank with you as my next friend. 
I hardly know how to estimate the goodness of the 
Marquis de la Fayette to me, but I think a French 
nobleman, of the first character in his country, never 
did more to serve an obscure citizen of another, 
than he has done for me ; and I am sure, that it is 
impossible, without some kind of soul made ex- 
pressly for the purpose, that an obscure citizen in 
such a situation can be more grateful than I am. 
May he be told so, with my compliments to his 
lady. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 181 

" I cannot tell you by what means I came to Pe- 
tersburg, and hardly know by what means I shall 
quit it, in the further prosecution of my tour round 
the world by land. If I have any merit in the affair, 
it is perseverance, for most severely have I been 
buffeted ; and yet still am even more obstinate than 
before ; and fate, as obstinate, continues her assaults. 
How the matter will terminate I know not. The 
most probable conjecture is, that I shall succeed, 
and be buffeted around the world, as I have hitherto 
been from England through Denmark, through 
Sweden, Swedish Lapland, Swedish Finland, and 
the most unfrequented parts of Russian Finland, to 
this aurora borealis of a city. I cannot give you a 
history of myself since I saw you, or since I wrote 
you last ; however abridged, it would be too long. 
Upon the whole, mankind have used me well ; and 
though I have as yet reached only the first stage of 
my journey, I feel myself much indebted for that 
urbanity, which I always thought more general, than 
many think it to be ; and were it not for the mis- 
chievous laws and bad examples of some govern- 
ments I have passed through, I am persuaded I 
should be able to give you a still better account of 
our fellow creatures. But I am hastening to coun- 
tries, where goodness, if natural to the human heart, 
will appear independent of example, and furnish 
an illustration of the character of man, not unworthy 
of him, who wrote the Declaration of Independence. 
I did not hear of the death of M. de Vergennes until 
I arrived here. Permit me to express my regret at 
the loss of so great and so good a man. Permit 
me, also, to congratulate you, as the minister of my 
country, on account of the additional commercial 
privileges granted by France to America, and to 
16 



182 L IFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

express my ardent wishes, that the friendly spirit, 
which dictated them, may last for ever. I was ex- 
tremely pleased at reading the account, and to 
heighten the satisfaction, I found the name of La 
Fayette there. 

" An equipment is now on foot here for the sea of 
Kamtschatka, and it is first to visit the Northwest 
Coast of America. It is to consist of four ships. 
This, and the expedition that went from here twelve 
months since by land for Kamtschatka, are to 
cooperate in a design of some sort in the Northern 
Pacific Ocean ; the Lord knows what, nor does it 
matter what with me, nor indeed with you, nor any 
other minister, nor any potentate, south of fifty de- 
grees of latitude. I can only say, that you are in no 
danger of having the luxurious repose of your charm- 
ing climates disturbed by a second incursion of either 
Goth, Vandal, Hun, or Scythian. 

" I dined today with Professor Pallas. He is an 
accomplished man, and my friend, and has travelled 
throughout European and Asiatic Russia. I find the 
little French I have, of infinite service to me. I 
could not do without it. It is a most extraordinary 
language. I believe wolves, rocks, woods, and snow 
understand it, for I have addressed them all in it, 
and they have all been very complaisant to me. We 
had a Scythian at table, who belongs to the Royal 
Society of Physicians here. The moment he knew 
me and my designs, he became my friend ; and it 
will be by his generous assistance, joined with that 
of Professor Pallas, that I shall be able to procure a 
Royal Passport, without which I cannot stir. This 
must be done through an application to the French 
minister, there being no American minister here ; 
and to his secretary I shall apply with Dr Pallas 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 183 

tomorrow, and shall take the liberty to make use of 
your name, and that of the Marquis de la Fayette, 
as to my character. As all my letters of recom- 
mendation were English, and as I have hitherto been 
used by the English with the greatest kindness and 
respect, I first applied to the British minister, but 
without success. The apology was, that the present 
political condition, between Russia and England, 
would make it disagreeable for the British minister 
to ask any favor. The secretary of the French 
embassy will despatch my letter, and one of his 
accompanying it, to the Count Segur to-morrow 
morning. I will endeavour to write you again before 
I leave Petersburg, and give you some further ac- 
counts of myself. Meantime, I wish you health. 
I have written a short letter to the Marquis. Adieu." 

It will be remembered, that at this time the Em- 
press was absent on her famous jaunt to Kerson and 
the Krimea. She had left Petersburg in January, 
accompanied by Prince Potemkin, and many others 
of the courtiers, and of the Russian nobility. The 
Austrian and French ambassadors were also in her 
train. She passed through Smolensk, and was now 
at Kief, where she remained amidst a brilliant as- 
semblage of nobles from Poland and her Russian 
territories, till the spring was so far advanced, that 
she could proceed by water down the Dnieper, in 
the magnificent galleys prepared for the purpose. 

While the Empress and her retinue were at Kief, 
a round of splendid entertainments, ceremonies, and 
visits from eminent personages, occupied her time, 
and absorbed her thoughts, in addition to the great 
political projects, which she is said to have been 
meditating in regard to the conquest of Turkey. 
Had the French ambassador found an opportunity, 



1 84 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

therefore, amidst these scenes of gaiety and bustle, 
to present a petition to the Empress from an un- 
known individual, for a passport to travel through her 
dominions, it could not be thought strange, that she 
should have neglected to attend to it with the prompt- 
ness, which more important affairs might require. 
Weeks passed away, and no answer was returned. 
Ledyard's patience was severely tried by this delay, 
and he began to talk of going forward without any 
passport. On the fifteenth of May, after waiting 
nearly two months at Petersburg, he writes to Colo- 
nel Smith, " My heart is oppressed ; my designs are 
generous; why is my fate otherwise? The Count 
Segur has not yet sent me my passport. But this 
shall not stop me ; I shall surmount all things, and 
at least deserve success." About this time he be- 
came acquainted with a Russian officer, who belong- 
ed to the family of the Grand Duke, and who took 
a lively interest in his concerns, and proffered his 
services. Ledyard says he was not only " polite 
and friendly, but a thinking Russian." By the 
kind assistance of this gentleman he obtained his 
passport in fifteen days, and was prepared for his 
departure. 

It was fortunate, that just at this time Mr William 
Brown, a Scotch Physician, was going to the prov- 
ince of Kolyvan, in the employment of the Empress. 
Ledyard joined him, and thus had a companion on 
his tour for more than three thousand miles. From 
this arrangement he enjoyed an important advan- 
tage ; for Brown travelled at the expense of the 
government, and as Ledyard went with him by 
permission of the proper authority, his travelling 
charges were probably defrayed in part at least from 
the public funds. And, indeed, without this aid, it 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 185 

would have been impossible for him to move a step, 
for his own resources were completely exhausted. 
On his arrival at Petersburg his necessities were 
extreme, as his money was gone, and he was almost 
destitute of clothes. In this extremity he drew a 
bill for twenty guineas on Sir Joseph Banks, which 
he found some friend willing to accept, although he 
confessed, that Sir Joseph had not authorized him 
to draw, and that the payment of the bill would 
depend on his generosity. It was immediately paid 
when presented in London, much to the honor of 
that munificent patron of science and enterprise. 
It is said that a quantity of stores was sent under the 
care of Dr Brown, to be forwarded to Mr Billings 
at Yakutsk, who was employed in exploring those 
remote regions of Siberia and Kamtschatka, in the 
service of the Empress. 

The party left Petersburg on the first of June, 
and in six days arrived at Moscow. During the 
last day's ride they overtook the Grand Duke and 
his retinue, who were going to Moscow to meet the 
Empress on her return from her pompous journey 
to the Krimea. The two travellers remained but 
one day in Moscow. They hired a person to go 
with them to Kazan, a distance of five hundred and 
fifty miles, and drive their Jcibitka with three horses. 
" Kibitka travelling," says Ledyard in his journal, 
" is the remains of caravan travelling ; it is your 
only home ; it is like a ship at sea." In this ve- 
hicle they were hurried along with considerable 
speed towards Kazan, through Vladimir, Nishnei 
Novogorod, and other towns. Kazan stands on the 
right bank of the majestic Wolga, and is the capital 
of a province of the same name. It is ranked 
among the first cities in the empire, containing a 
16* 



186 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

university, churches, convents, and other public 
buildings, some of which are magnificent, and fin- 
ished with much architectural taste and elegance. 
Immense quantities of grain are produced in this 
province, and also flax and leather for exportation. 
The soil is well cultivated, but low and unhealthy, 
and the inhabitants are a mixed population of Rus- 
sians and Tartars. 

They stayed a week at Kazan, and then commen- 
ced their journey to Tobolsk, where they arrived on 
the eleventh of July, having crossed the Ural moun- 
tains, and passed the frontiers of Europe and Asia. 
The face of the country had hitherto been level, with 
hardly an eminence springing from the great plain, 
which spreads over the vast territory from Moscow 
to Tobolsk. The ascent of the Ural mountains was 
so gradual, as scarcely to form an exception to this 
general remark, and nothing could be more monoto- 
nous and dreary, than the interminable wastes, over 
which their route had led them since leaving Kazan, 
with here and there a miserable village, and unpro- 
ductive culture of the soil. " The wretched ap- 
pearance of the inhabitants," says our journalist, 
" is such as may generally be observed in a greater 
or less degree in those places, which are so unhap- 
py as to be the frontiers between nations ; like step- 
children are they." This is especially the condition 
of the people throughout the whole extent of the 
China frontiers, that border on Russia. It is the 
policy of the government to preserve this belt of 
desolation, as a barrier, against the too easy access 
of foreigners, and as a means of preventing contra- 
band trade. 

Tobolsk is a city of considerable interest, having 
been once the capital of all Siberia, and in early 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. JQ7 

times the scene of a great battle between the re- 
nowned hero Yermak, and the Tartar prince, Kou- 
tchum Khan, in which the former was victorious. 
The city stands at the junction of two large rivers, 
the Tobol and Irtish, which there unite and flow on 
together, till their waters are mingled with the Obe, 
and thence conveyed to the Northern Ocean. It 
consists of the upper and lower town, the latter sit- 
uate on the margin of the river, and the former on 
a commanding eminence, which overlooks the lower 
town and much of the adjacent country. Captain 
Cochrane, who visited this place a few years ago, 
was greatly pleased with its natural advantages and 
scenery, and the condition and comforts of the 
people. The town is well laid out into streets, 
contains handsome churches and other edifices, a 
well regulated market, and provisions of all kinds 
in abundance, and exceedingly cheap. He was not 
less charmed with the society ; for although Tobolsk 
is the residence of exiles, they are such as have 
been sent to Siberia for political reasons, and not 
malefactors, these latter being accommodated with a 
residence and employment much farther in the in- 
terior towards Kamtschatka. These political exiles 
are commonly persons of some culture and intelli- 
gence, for, as this author justly remarks, no govern- 
ment banishes fools; and the social circles of the 
better sort indicate a refinement and happiness, 
which might be envied in more civilized parts of 
the globe. So much was this traveller pleased with 
the wild and beautiful scenery on the banks of the 
Irtish, that he followed up the stream to the borders 
of China, enraptured at every step ; nor was he 
satisfied, till he had contemplated by moonlight the 
deep solitudes and lofty granite mountains, that con- 



188 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

stitute the bulwark of this northern boundary of the 
Celestial Empire. 

But Captain Cochrane was an amateur traveller, 
wandering for amusement, and seeking odd adven- 
tures in the most promising theatre for them. Led- 
yard, on the contrary, was impelled forward by a 
single motive, and he would gladly have annihilated 
space and time, if he could have set his foot the 
next moment on the American Continent. He did 
not traverse the wild wastes of Siberia to make dis- 
coveries, gaze at mountains, trace rivers to their 
sources, nor even to examine the economy of soci- 
ty and the condition of the people. He had a soul 
to admire whatever was grand or beautiful in nature, 
and to be strongly affected with the various states of 
human existence, as his observations abundantly 
prove ; but he suffered these to make an incidental 
claim only on his attention, keeping them subordi- 
nate to his great design and absorbing purpose. 
Hence he stopped no longer in any place, than was 
necessary to prepare for a new departure. Three 
days he and his companion stayed at Tobolsk, and 
then continued their journey to Barnaoul, the capi- 
tal of the province of Kolyvan. At this place he 
was to leave Dr Brown and proceed alone. For 
this gentlemen he had contracted a sincere esteem, 
and was prevailed upon to remain in Barnaoul a 
week, out of regard to the kindness and in compli- 
ance with the solicitation of his friend. 

In many respects Barnaoul is one of the most 
agreeable places of residence in Siberia. The prov- 
ince of which it is the capital, is a rich mining dis- 
trict, and this brings together in the town persons of 
science and respectability, who are employed as 
public officers to superintend the working of the 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 189 

mines. The surrounding country, moreover, is well 
suited to agriculture, abounding in good lands for 
pasture and grain, supporting vast herds of cattle, 
and producing vegetables in great profusion. In 
consequence of these bounties of nature, there is 
an overflowing and cheap market, an absence of 
want, and much positive happiness among the peo- 
ple. 

Ledyard was lodged at Barnaoul in the house of 
the treasurer, by whom he was treated with great 
hospitality. He dined twice with the governor, and 
also with two old discharged officers of the army, 
who, at their own request, had quitted the service, 
and become judges and justices of the law. He was 
shown the armorial bearings of forty-two provinces 
in the empire. The governor told him, that the 
salt, produced by the salt lakes in the province of 
Kolyvan, yielded somewhat more to the revenue 
than the mines, and also that the aggregate amount 
of revenue from that province was greater than from 
any other. In respect to gold and silver, this is no 
dOubt the case at the present day, but in regard to 
the salt it is uncertain. There are said to be salt 
lakes in Siberia, so much saturated with saline mat- 
ter, that the salt crystalizes of its own accord, and 
adheres in this state to pieces of wood and other 
substances put into the water. 

Kolyvan is near the middle point between Peters- 
burg and Okotsk, it being somewhat more than three 
thousand miles in opposite directions to each of those 
places.* Barnaoul stands on the bank of the river 
Obe, which is a broad and noble stream where it 



* In his Journal, Ledyard enters the following distances, which 
he says were taken from a Russian Almanac. In the the second 



190 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 



passes the town. It is in the fifty -third degree of 
north latitude, and in the last week in July the 
mornings were exceedingly hot, the sky cloudless 
and serene, and the atmosphere perfectly calm. 
In the afternoon a gentle breeze would spring 
up, increase by degrees till evening, and continue 
through the night. Rains are not frequent in 
Kolyvan. 

The following extract is from that part of the 
journal, which was written at Barnaoul, and contains 
remarks on what came under the writer's notice 
during his journey to that place. 

" The face of the country from Petersburg to 
Kolyvan is one continued plain. The soil before 
arriving at Kazan is very well cultivated ; after- 
wards cultivation gradually ' ceases. On the route 
to Kazan we saw large mounds of earth, often of 
twenty, thirty, and forty feet elevation, which I con- 
jectured, and on inquiry found, to be ancient sepul- 
chres. There is an analogy between these and our 
own graves, and the Egyptian pyramids ; and an 
exact resemblance between them, and those piles 
supposed to be of monumental earth, which are 
found among some of the tribes of North America. 
We first saw Tartars before our arrival at Kazan ; 
and also a woman with her nails painted red, like 
the Cochin-Chinese. 



column I have reduced the versts to English miles. Three versts 

are equal to two miles. 

Versts. Miles. 

From Petersburg to Barnaoul .... 4539 . . . 3026 

" Barnaoul to Irkutsk 1732'. . . 1155 

" Irkutsk to Yakutsk 2266 . . . 1510 

" Yakutsk to Okotsk 952 ... 635 

" Okotsk to Awateka in Kamtschatka . 1065 ... 710 

Whole distance from Petersburg to Kamtschatka 10554 . . .7036 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 191 

" Notwithstanding the modern introduction of lin- 
en into Russia, the garments of the peasantry still 
retain not only the form, but the manner of orna- 
menting them, which was practised when they wore 
skins. This resembles the Tartar mode of orna- 
menting, and is but a modification of the wampum 
ornament, which is still discernible westward from 
Russia to Denmark, among the Finlanders, Lap- 
landers, and Swedes. The nice gradation by which 
I pass from civilization to incivilization appears in 
everything ; in manners, dress, language ; and par- 
ticularly in that remarkable and important circum- 
stance, color, which I am now fully convinced ori- 
ginates from natural causes, and is the effect of 
external and local circumstances. I think the same 
of feature. I see here the large mouth, the thick lip, 
the broad flat nose, as well as in Africa. I see also 
in the same village as great a difference of com- 
plexion ; from the fair hair, fair skin, and white eyes, 
to the olive, the black jetty hair and eyes ; and these 
all of the same language, same dress, and, I sup- 
pose, same tribe. I have frequently observed in 
Russian villages, obscure and dirty, mean and poor, 
that the women of the peasantry paint their faces, 
both red and white. I have had occasion from this 
and other circumstances to suppose, that the Rus- 
sians are a people, who have been early attached to 
luxury. They are everywhere fond of eclat. ' Sir,' 
said a Russian officer to me in Petersburg, ' we pay 
no attention to anything but eclat.'' The contour of 
their manners is Asiatic, and not European. The 
Tartars are universally neater than the Russians, 
particularly in their houses. The Tartar, however 
situated, is a voluptuary ; and it is an original and 
striking trait in their character, from the Grand 



192 LIF E OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

Seignior, to him who pitches his tent on the wild 
frontiers of Russia and China, that they are more 
addicted to real sensual pleasure, than any other 
people. The Emperor of Germany, the Kings of 
England and France, have pursuits that give an en- 
tirely different turn to their enjoyments ; and so 
have their respective subjects. Would a Tartar 
live on Vive leRoi 1 ? Would he spend ten years in 
constructing a watch ? or twenty in forming a tele- 
scope ? 

" In the United States of America, as in Russia, 
we have made an effort to convert our Tartars to 
think and act like us ; but to what effect ? Among 
us, Sampson Occum was pushed the farthest within 
the pale of civilization ; but just as the sanguine 
divine, who brought him there, was forming the 
highest expectations, he fled and sought his own 
elysium in the bosom of his native forests. In Rus- 
sia they have had none so distinguished ; here they 
are commonly footmen, or lackeys of some other 
kind. The Marquis de la Fayette had a young 
American Tartar, of the Onandago tribe, who came 
to see him ; and the Marquis, at much expense, equip- 
ped him in rich Indian dresses. After staying some 
time, he did as Occum did. When I was at school 
at Mount Ida [Dartmouth College], many Indians 
were there, most of whom gave some promise of 
being civilized,, and some were sent forth to preach ; 
but as far as I observed myself, and have been since 
informed, they all returned to the home and customs 
of their fathers, and followed the inclinations, which 
nature had so deeply enstamped on their character." 

To these remarks is here added part of a letter, 
written to Mr Jefferson from Barnaoul, dated on the 
twenty-ninth of July, 1787. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 193 

" How I have come thus far, and how I am to go 
still farther, is an enigma that I must disclose to you 
on some happier occasion. I shall never be able, 
without seeing you in person, and perhaps not then, 
to inform you how universally and circumstantial- 
ly the Tartars resemble the Aborigines of Ameri- 
ca. They are the same people ; the most ancient 
and the most numerous of any other ; and had not a 
small sea divided them, they would all have been 
still known by the same name. The cloak of civili- 
zation sits as ill upon them, as upon our American 
Tartars. They have been a long time Tartars, and 
it will be a long time before they will be any other 
kind of people. 

" I shall send this letter to Petersburg, to the care 
of Professor Pallas. He will transmit it to you, 
together with one for the Marquis, in the mail of the 
Count Segur. My health is perfectly good ; but 
notwithstanding the vigor of my body, my mind 
keeps the start of me, and I anticipate my future 
fate with the most lively ardor. Pity it is, that in 
such a career one should be subjected, like a horse, 
to the beggarly impediments of sleep and hunger. 

" The banks of the large rivers in this country 
everywhere abound with something curious in the 
fossil world. I have found the leg-bone of a very 
large animal on the banks of the Ooe, and have sent 
it to Dr Pallas, requesting him to render me an ac- 
count of it hereafter. It is either an elephant's or 
rhinoceros's bone. The latter animal has been in 
this country. There is a complete head of one in 
a state of high preservation at Petersburg. I am a 
curiosity here myself. Those who have heard of 
America flock round to see me. Unfortunately the 
17 






194 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

marks on my hands* procure me and my country- 
men the appellation of wild men. Among the bet- 
ter sort we are somewhat more known. The gov- 
ernor and his family have got a peep at the history 
of our existence, through the medium of an anti- 
quated pamphlet of some land. We have, however, 
two stars, that shine even in the galaxy of BarnaouL 
and the healths of Dr Franklin and of General 
Washington have been drunk, in compliment to me, 
at the governor's table. I am treated with the great- 
est hospitality here. Hitherto I have fared comfort- 
ably when I could make a port anywhere, but when 
totally in the country I have been a little incommod- 
ed. Hospitality, however, I have found as universal 
as the face of man. When you read this, perhaps 
two months before you do, if I do well, I shall be 
at Okotsk, where I will do myself the honor to 
trouble you again, and if possible will write more at 
large. My compliments wait on all my Parisian 
friends." 

After spending a week very agreeably in Barna- 
oul, he made preparations for recommencing his 
journey. From this place to Irkutsk it was arran- 
ged, that he should travel post with the courier, who 
had charge of the mail. All things being in readi- 
ness, he writes, " I waited on the governor with my 
passport ; he was well pleased with it ; gave me a 
corporal to conduct the affairs of the mail ; said I 
had nothing to do but sit in the kibitka, and muster- 
ed up French enough to say, Monsieur, je vous 
souhaite un bon voyage. I took an affectionate fare- 
well of the worthy Dr Brown, and left Barnaoul." 
The next stopping-place on the route was Tomsk, 

* The tattoo marks made on his hands at Otaheite. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 195 

distant three hundred miles, which were passed over 
in two days and three nights. The river Tom, 
which flows near this town, is as large as the Irtish, 
where it is crossed by the main road above Tobolsk, 
and was the first river met with by our traveller 
since leaving Petersburg, which had either a gravel- 
ly bottom or shore. On its banks were found little 
mounds of earth, which were ascertained to have 
been the habitations of the natives,. who dwelt there 
before the conquest of the country by the Rus- 
sians.* The nights, he remarked, were very cold, 
more so than he had known them in any country 
where it was at the same time so hot by day. All 
the way from Barnaoul, and particularly in its 
neighbourhood, were perceived the ruinous effects of 
the violent winds, that frequently produce great de- 
vastation in those parts of Siberia. Forest trees 
and fields of grain were indiscriminately blown down 
and destroyed. The hospitality of the inhabitants, 



* In Bell's Journey from Petersburg to Pekin, with the Russian 
embassy, in the year 1720, the author gives a curious account of 
the mounds in the regions about Tomsk. He considers them the 
tombs of ancient heroes, who fell in battle. " Many persons go 
from Tomsk," he observes, " and other parts, every summer, to 
these graves, which they dig up, and find among the ashes of the 
dead considerable quantities of gold, silver, brass, and some pre- 
cious stones ; but particularly hilts of swords and armour. They 
find, also, ornaments of saddles and bridles, and other trappings 
for horses ; and even the bones of horses, and sometimes those of 
elephants. Whence it appears, that when any general or person 
of distinction was interred, all his arms, his favorite horse, and 
servant, were buried with him in the same grave. This custom 
prevails to this day among the Kalmuks and other Tartars, and 
$eems to be of great antiquity. It appears from the number of 
graves, that many thousands must have fallen on these plains, for 
the people have continued to dig for such treasure many years, 
and still find it unexhausted. They are sometimes, indeed, in- 
terrupted and robbed of all their booty by parties of the Kalmuks, 
who abhor the disturbing the ashes of the dead." Vol. I. p. 253. 



196 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

however, was unabated. They could rarely be pre- 
vailed upon to take anything for provisions or ac- 
commodation. On one occasion, for as much barley 
soup, onions, quass, bread, and milk, as made a 
hearty meal for the traveller and his corporal, the 
good woman, who furnished them, consented to re- 
ceive one koj)eek, and nothing more.* 

They were detained two or three days at Tomsk, 
waiting for a mail, that was coming by another route 
from Tobolsk ; but the commandant was affable and 
generous, and did not allow the time to pass heavily. 
He was somewhat of a singularity, being a French- 
man, born in Paris, now seventy-three years old, 
having resided twenty-five years in Siberia, and more 
than thirty in Russia. He spoke his native language 
imperfectly, and wrote it still worse. His favorite 
topic was the dignity of his birth, and the high rank 
of his family. But Ledyard wished to know more 
about Siberia at that moment, than of the genealogy 
or rank of the families in France, and he ventured 
to ask the old man if the town, or its environs, af- 
forded anything valuable or curious in natural histo- 
ry. His answer was, that there were thieves, 
rogues, liars, and villains of every description. The 
conversation was pushed no farther in the way of 
philosophical inquiry, for it was evident the French- 
man's thoughts had run very little in that channel. 

There was truth in his remark, although uttered 
somewhat out of place. Tomsk had long been the 
rendezvous of the worst class of exiles, who had 
been banished for their crimes, and could not be 



*The value of the hopeek varies at different times. Ledyard 
states it to have heen about one tenth of an English penny, when 
he was in Siberia. In Dr Clarke's Travels it is put down as equal 
to an English halfpenny. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 197 

expected to exercise a very salutary influence on 
society, or to become pattern members of it them- 
selves. Poverty and wretchedness, the accompa- 
niments of vice, formed here some of the prominent 
objects in the foreground of the picture, and beggars 
daily thronged the streets, as in the most populous re- 
gions of the civilized world. The charity and kind 
feelings of the better sort of inhabitants, however, 
afforded a pleasing contrast to this debasement and 
suffering. Ledyard observes, that the family with 
whom he lodged, were accustomed every mOrningto 
lay aside in the window ten or twelve farthing pieces 
for the charitable purposes of the day. Consider- 
ing the extraordinary cheapness of food, this would 
afford relief to many persons. The beggars began 
their rounds at an early hour, and went regularly 
from house to house, and were very rarely sent away 
without something. Those, who did not give money, 
gave bread. Some of the beggars were in irons. 
The people asked no questions, but appeared to 
give cheerfully and without grudging. The demand 
was uniformly made, pour V amour de Dieu, " for 
which," says the journalist, " one may have more m 
this country than in any other I have seen." 

In ten days from the time of leaving Tomsk, the 
traveller and his corporal were safely arrived in Ir- 
kutsk, over a road, of which he speaks in no terms 
of commendation. The river Yenissey was crossed 
at the town of Krasnoyarsk, where the commandant 
pressed him to stop long enough to dine, and cele- 
brated the event of a stranger's arrival, with such 
free potations as to become intoxicated. From 
Tomsk to Yenissey the country exhibited rather an 
agreeable aspect, and marks of cultivation. JLed- 
yard observes, that in this region he " first finds the 
17* 



198 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD- 

real craggy, peaked hill, or mountain," and from 
Krasnoyarsk to Irkutsk was the first stony road, 
which he had passed over in the Russian dominions. 
The streets of Tobolsk, and some of the other towns 
on his route, were paved with wood. 

" Passing on east from the Yenissey to Irkutsk the 
country is thinly peopled. A very few, and those 
miserable houses, are to be seen on the road, and 
none at all at a distance from it. The country is 
hilly, rough, mountainous, and covered with thick 
forests. The rivers here also have all rocky beds, 
and are rapid in the degree of three to five miles an 
hour. The autumnal rains are begun, and they 
have set in severely. I am now in Irkutsk, and have 
stayed in my quarter's all day to take a little rest,, 
after a very fatiguing journey, rendered so by sundry 
very disagreeable circumstances ; going with the 
courier, and driving with wild Tartar horses, at a 
most rapid rate, over a wild and ragged country j 
breaking and upsetting kibitkas ; besvvarmed with 
musquetoes ; all the way hard rains j and when t 
arrived at Irkutsk I was, and had been for the last 
forty-eight hours, wet through and through, and cov- 
ered with one complete mass of mud," 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 199 



CHAPTER IX. 

Residence at Irkutsk. — Miscellaneous remarks on the inhabitants, 
and the productions of the country. — Accounts of the Tartars. — 
Unsuccessful attempts to civilize them. — Fur trade on the 
Ameiican coast. — Visit to the Lake Baikal. — Further remarks on 
the character and manners of the Kalmuks and other Tartars. — 
Leaves Irkutsk for the river Lena. — Scenery around the Baikal. 
— Rivers flowing into it. — Extraordinary depth of i(s wafers. — 
They are fresh, but contain seals, and fish, peculiar to the 
ocean. — Estimate of the number of rivers in Siberia, and of the 
quantity of water they pour into the Frozen Ocean. — Ledyard 
proceeds down the Lena in a bateau. — Romantic scenery along 
the margin of the river. — Hospitality of the inhabitants. — Ends 
his voyage at Yakutsk. 

Ledyard stayed in Irkutsk about ten days, and his 
observations and general reflections during that time 
may be best understood by extracts from his journal, 
as they were written on the spot. They are rather 
in the nature of hints and first thoughts, than of a 
regular narrative ; but they will show his inquisitive 
turn of mind, arid his eagerness for acquiring such 
knowledge, as accorded with the general objects of 
his travels. 

" rfugtist\16th. I have not been out this morning, 
but I shrewdly suspect by what I see from my poor 
talc window, that I shall even here find the fashion- 
able follies, the ridiculous extravagance, and ruinous 
eclat of Petersburg. — -I have been out, and my sus- 
picions were well founded. Dined with a brigadier, 
a colonel, and a major, a little out of town ; they are 
Germans. Had at the table a French exile, who 
had been an adjutant. Scarcely a day passes but 
an exile of some sort arrives. Most of the inhabit- 
ants of this remote part of Siberia are convicts. 
The country here was formerly inhabited by the 



200 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

Mongul or Kalmuk Tartars, who are, I conclude, 
the same people. Find no account of the Calumet. 
The French exile had been at Quebec, and thinks 
the Tartars here much inferior to the American In- 
dians, both in their understanding and persons. I 
observe the Tongusians have not the Mongul or 
Kalmuk faces, but moderately long, and considerably 
like the European face. These Tongusians form 
the second class of Tartars, so obviously distinguish- 
able by their features from other Tartars, and from 
Europeans. What I call the third class are the light- 
eyed and fair-complexioned Tartars, which class I 
believe includes the Cossacs. The Tchuktchi are 
the only northern Tartars, that remain unsubjected 
to the government. 

" The town of Irkutsk is the residence of the 
governor-general, Jacobi, and of a military com- 
mander, and has in it two battalions of infantry. It 
has two thousand poor log houses, and ten churches. 
Jacobi's authority extends from here to the Pacific 
Ocean, an immense territory. I waited this morning 
on the director of the bank, Mr Karamyscheff, who 
was a pupil of Linnaeus. He is very assiduous to 
oblige me in everything, and sent for three Kal- 
muks in the dress of their country. Nothing par- 
ticularly curious about them, but their pipes, which 
are coarsely made of copper by themselves ; the 
form altogether Chinese. Karamyscheff informs 
me, that the Monguls and Kalmuks are the same 
people. From his house I went with the Conseiller 
d'Etat, who introduced me to Jacobi, the governor. 
He is an old^ venerable man, and although I believe, 
with Pallas,, that he is un homme de bois, yet he re- 
ceived me standing and uncovered. Our converse 
tion was merely respecting my going with the post, 






LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 201 

which he granted me, and, besides, told me that I 
should be particularly well accommodated, wished 
me a successful voyage, and that my travels might 
be productive of information to mankind. I con- 
versed with him in French, through the interpreta- 
tion of the Conseiller. 

" This latter gentleman gave me the following in- 
formation. ' The white Tartars you saw about 
Kazan are natives of that country, and we call them 
Kazan Tartars. Kazan was once a kingdom of 
theirs. From this place to Yakutsk you pass among 
the Kalmuks. At Yakutsk you will see the Yakuti, 
and also the Tongusians, who are more personable 
than the Kalmuks, or Monguls, and more sensible ; 
but the Yakuti are more sensible than either. They 
are indeed a people of good natural parts and gen- 
ius, and by experience are found capable of any 
kind of learning. From Yakutsk you pass through 
the Tongusians all the way to Okotsk. In the time 
of Jenghis Khan the Thibet Tartars, that is, the 
Kalmuks, or Monguls, made incursions into this 
country. We have two hundred thousand Russians, 
and, as nearly as we can estimate, half that number 
of Indians of all descriptions, in this province. Mar- 
riages in and near the villages take place between 
the Russians and Tartars, but they are not frequent. 
I believe the extreme cold, and want of snow here 
during winter, and the sudden change of weather in 
the summer, to be the reason why we can have no 
fruit here. We have often, in the months of May 
and June, ice three and four inches thick. Besides, 
this country, as you have observed, is subject to ter- 
rible gales of wind, which blow away both bud and 
blossom. We have nevertheless a few little apples, 
which we eat at our tables, and they are not without 
flavor.' Thus much the Conseiller. 



202 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

" The forest trees in this country are almost alto- 
gether birch ; they are generally rotten at the heart. 
Mr Karamyscheff tells me, that there are many bones 
of the rhinoceros in these parts of Siberia, and also 
the same large bones, that are found on the banks of 
the Ohio in America. It seems, that the places in 
which to find those bones, and other curious fossils, 
are at the mouths of the great rivers Yenissey, Lena, 
Kolyma, and others, among the islands that are 
formed where they flow into the sea. Here they 
are all lodged, after having been washed from under 
ground by the rivers in the different countries, which 
they traverse. 

"August 17th. To-day, it seems, the jubilee is 
observed, on account of the Empress' having reigned 
twenty-five years. In coming from Karamyscheff's 
I met the governor-general and his suite of officers, 
the brigadier I dined with yesterday, and other dig- 
nitaries, to the number of two hundred, all going to 
dine with the governor, who keeps open house on 
the occasion. The governor and other officers salut- 
ed me as they passed ; those, who did not know me, 
wondering what could procure such attention to one 
so poorly and oddly attired. I was pressed by some 
of the company to go and dine. Had my clothes 
been good, I would have gone. But I dined with 
Karamyscheff. It is a Tartar name, and he is of 
Tartarian extraction. Saw an appletree in his gar- 
den. The fruit, as he described it, would be as large 
as a full sized pea in France or England. It is the 
genuine appletree, and their naturalists distinguish it 
by the name of the pyrus baccata. These are the 
only apples in Siberia. 

" Karamyscheff says the Yakuti Tartars are the 
veritables Tartars, by which I understand, that they 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 203 

are a less mixed race than the others. Their lan- 
guage he says is the oldest language, and that other 
tribes understand it. The Yakuti formerly possess- 
ed this country, but they were driven out by the 
Kalmuks, who made a succession of attacks upon 
them, and pursued them to the Lena, down which 
they fled, and settled at Yakutsk. Karamyscheff 
has in his house four children descended from a 
Kalmuk father and Russian mother. The first re- 
sembles the father, and is entirely Kalmuk ; the 
second the mother, with fair hair and eyes ; one of 
the others is Kalmuk, and the other Russian. They 
are all healthy and well looking children. I saw 
three of them. Karamyscheff knows not among 
what people to rank the Kamtschadales. He ac- 
knowledges with me, that their faces are entirely 
Kalmuk, but says they came from America. This 
controverts the common opinion, that America was 
peopled after Asia. But he is carried away with the 
wild notions of the French naturalist, Buffon. I 
find universally, that the Tartars wear their beards. 
The ears of Kalmuk, or Mongul Tartars, project 
universally farther from the head, than those of Eu- 
ropeans. I measured the ears of the Kalmuks at 
Karamyscheff's to-day, and on an average they pro- 
jected one inch and a half, and they were by no 
means extraordinary examples. The ears of the 
Chinese are similar. 

" We have French and Spanish wines here, but 
so adulterated, that I was told of it before I knew it 
to be wine. Karamyscheff is fully sensible of the 
luxury and vanity I complain of in this country, 
which is but beginning to begin, as I told him to-day. 
He laments it, and declared frankly to me, that 
patriotism and the true solid virtues of a citizen are 



204 LIFE °F JOHN LEDYARD. 

hardly known. The geographical termination of 
Russia, and the commencement of Siberia, is at the 
city of Perm. The natural boundary is the river 
Yenissey. I observe that the face of the country is 
very different on this side of the Yenissey, and Ka- 
ramyscheff, who is a botanist, says the vegetable 
productions differ as much. 

"August 18th. Went this morning to see some 
curiosities from different parts of Siberia. Saw also 
a piece of Sandwich Island cloth, which was obtain- 
ed from Captain Cook's ship at Kamtschatka, when 
he was there. In the collection was the skin of a 
Chinese goat, the hair of which was the whitest, 
longest, and most delicate that I ever saw ; also 
some excellent sea-otter skins, the largest of which 
were valued at two hundred roubles ; likewise a 
bow, quiver, and all the military apparatus of a 
Kalmuk, which was very heavy. The Kalmuks 
and Monguls here receive the common name of the 
Buretti. 

I went to the Archbishop's to see a young savage 
of the Tchuktchi. The good bishop had taken 
great pains to humanize him (as Dr Wheelock had 
done with Sampson Occum, whose story I related 
on this occasion ) ; but he informed us, that he had 
lately taken to drink, and died drunk ; or, in the 
bishop's own words, ' somebody had one day given 
him half a rouble, and he went out with it, but never 
returned, and was found dead by the side of a 
Kabak.' Dined with my friend Karamyscheff again 
to-day, who presented me, in lieu of a domestic, a 
young lieutenant to go with me and buy a few things ; 
*"But,' said he, ' don't put any money in his hands, 
he will not return it.' We had at table the wife of 
a clerk to Mr Karamyscheff, whose mother was a 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 205 

savage from the Tchuktchi regions, and her father a 
Russian. She is a fine creature, and her complex- 
ion a good middling color. It strengthens my opin- 
ion, that the difference of color in man is not the 
effect of any design in the Creator, but of causes 
simple in themselves, which will perhaps soon be 
well ascertained. It is an extraordinary circum- 
stance, but I think I ought not on that account to 
conclude, that it is not the result of natural causes. 

" August 19th. For the second time I have ob- 
served, that in the wells, about twelve feet down, 
there is a great deal of ice adhering to the sides. I 
went this morning to see a merchant, who was the 
owner of a vessel, that had passed from Kamtschatka 
to different parts of the coast of America. He 
showed me some charts rudely descriptive of his 
voyages ; says there are, on different parts of the 
coast of America, two thousand Russians ; and that, 
as nearly as he can judge, the number of skins, pro- 
cured by them in that country, amounts to twelve 
thousand. He has a vessel at Okotsk, which leaves 
that place for America next summer, and he offers 
me a passage in her. 

" Dined to-day with a German colonel, and after 
dinner set out for the Lake Baikal, which, in the 
Kalmuk language, signifies the North Sea. The 
Kalmuks, or Monguls, originally lived on the south of 
this lake, towards China and Thibet. After a good 
and cheerful dinner with the colonel, we mounted, 
his drosky, with post horses, and took our departure 
for the lake. After seven hours' ride over a misera- 
ble road, we arrived at the little hamlet of St Nicho- 
las, where formerly the Russian ambassadors resided, 
before they embarked to cross the lake for China. 
This village has a church in it, dedicated to St 
18 



206 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

Nicholas, and all the sailors on the lake resort to it. 
We lodged here through the night, and early next 
morning resumed our journey, and reached the 
border of the lake. Here are six or seven houses, 
among which the largest was ordered to be built by 
the Empress for the accommodation of all strangers 
that pass this way ; and also a galliot, which plies as 
a packet in the summer across the lake. 

" We hailed the galliot which was at anchor in the 
lake. The captain came ashore, and we went off 
with him in a small boat, with line and lead to take 
soundings ; but having only fifty fathoms of line, and 
it raining very hard, we could not make much pro- 
gress. At the distance of one hundred feet from 
the shore, my whole length of line was taken up. 
We retired to the house, breakfasted, and waited an 
hour for the rain to abate ; but, finding it to continue, 
we requested the captain to send us in his boat to 
Irkutsk. He complied with our request, and made 
us a canopy of hides to defend us from the rain. 
We sent our drosky back by the postboy, and em- 
barked with two sailors to row us. We passed 
along the margin of the lake to the outlet, where the 
river Angara begins, and thence down the river to 
Irkutsk, a distance of about forty-five miles. This 
lake is seven hundred and sixty-nine versts (five 
hundred and thirteen miles) in its longest part, and 
sixty versts (forty miles) in its broadest. Its depth is 
said to be unfathomable. It has an annual ebb and 
flux ; the one is caused by the autumnal rains, and 
the other by the dry season in spring. It has empty- 
ing into it one hundred and sixty-nine small streams, 
from twenty to eighty yards wide, and three larger 
ones from a quarter to half a mile wide. It has but 
one outlet, by which to dispose of the redundancy 



_ 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 207 

from all these influxes, and that is the river Angara, 
which is a Kalmuk name. It is no more than a quar- 
ter of a mile wide, where it springs from the lake, is 
very shallow, and far from being rapid. 

" August 22d. The government of Irkutsk has 
four provinces, namely, Irkutsk, Yakutsk, Nart- 
schintsk, and Okotsk. These are divided into sev- 
eral districts each. The governor sent me a surveyor, 
with the latest chart of the great territory embracing 
these provinces. By measurement I found its lati- 
tudinal extent, from its southern extremity to the 
Icy Ocean north, to be two thousand seven hundred 
versts, and its longitudinal extent, from its western 
boundary to Tchuktchi Nos, its eastern extremity at 
Bering's Strait, to be three thousand nine hundred 
versts. 

" I am informed by the governor that the post will 
not be ready for three days. 

" August 23d. The commerce of Irkutsk is very 
small with Europe, and consequently at present at a 
very low ebb, since there is no open trade with the 
Chinese, its nearest neighbours of a commercial char- 
acter. The frontiers, between this country and 
China, are principally defended by an army of Bu- 
retti, or Kalmuk Tartars. They are mostly horse- 
men, like the Cossacs in the western dominions, and 
amount to more than five thousand men. There are 
two convents near this town, one of men and the 
other of women, separated by a river. I observe in 
Siberia, that in all the cities there is one great bury- 
ing-place, and that wherever this is (and it is com- 
monly out of the town), there is likewise a church, 
and the best church of the place. This is but an- 
other kind of pyramid, a large mound, or a mound 
modified. 



208 L IFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

" August 25th. This morning I leave town. The 
land is well cultivated on the borders of the river, 
and is good. Among the Buretti, or Kalmuks, I 
observe the American moccasin, the common moc- 
casin, like the Finland moccasin. The houses of 
the Buretti have octagonal sides, covered with turf, 
with a fireplace in the centre, and an aperture for 
smoke ; the true American wigwam, and like the 
first Tartar house I saw in this country, which was 
near Kazan. Mr Karamyscheff says they have the 
wild horse on their Chinese frontiers. The Buretti 
here ride and work the horned cattle ; they perforate 
the cartilage of the nose, and put a cord through it 
to guide them by. This is to be wondered at, as 
the country is level, and they have vast droves of 
horses. 

" August 26th. Hard white frost last night, and 
very cold. Run away with by these furious, unbroke 
Tartar horses, and saved myself each time by jump- 
ing out of the kibitka. Thank Heaven, ninety versts 
more will probably put an end to my kibitka journey- 
ing for ever." 

Such are some of the brief notes entered in his 
journal, while he was at Irkutsk. He was detained 
on account of the delay of the post, and made the 
best use of his time in collecting such information, 
as he supposed would be serviceable to him in his 
future travels. The inquiries, of which he was pe- 
culiarly fond, respecting the different races of men, 
their origin, classification, and distinctions, were 
here pursued with his customary diligence and dis- 
crimination. But it should always be borne in mind, 
that he did not intend his journal for anything more 
than a repository of loose hints, which might assist 
his recollection, when the occasion for using thera. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 209 

should occur. They were never afterwards revised, 
or altered, but have been preserved in the original 
form, in which he recorded them on his journey. 
This fact should claim for them all the indulgence, 
which their incoherency, or want of maturity, may 
seem to require. 

The Lake Baikal in some respects is one of the 
most remarkable bodies of water on the globe. 
Other travellers have given its dimensions somewhat 
differently from Ledyard, varying from three hun- 
dred to six hundred miles in length, and from forty- 
five to sixty miles in width where it is the broadest. 
Ledyard probably measured it on the chart just 
mentioned. All travellers agree, however, that the 
scenery around this lake is the most picturesque, 
bold, and imposing imaginable. The Angara bursts 
out from the lake, between immense battlements of 
perpendicular rocks, which, if we may judge from 
Bell's description of them, surpass in grandeur the 
famous passage of the Potomac through the Blue 
Ridge at Harper's Ferry. For about a mile after 
leaving the lake, there is a continued rapid, extend- 
ing across the whole breadth of the stream, and ad- 
mitting of no boat communication, except by a 
narrow channel on the east side, up which boats are 
towed, and propelled with poles, from the village of 
St Nicholas into the lake. Around the entire cir- 
cumference of the lake, and particularly on the 
north, lofty and craggy mountains are seen piled one 
above another, in the wildest confusion, and masses 
of rock rising like towers from the very margin of 
the water. Down the ravines and precipices thus 
formed, the numerous tributary streams pour them- 
selves into this great reservoir. Pallas was inclined 
to believe, that the enormous gulf, which forms the 
18* 



210 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

basin of the Baikal, was caused by a violent disrup- 
tion of the earth, at some very remote period. 

The Selinga, a river which empties itself into this 
lake from the south, is larger at its mouth than the 
Angara, where it issues from the lake. It has its 
source in the Chinese dominions, and is navigable 
for many miles into the interior. Another river, 
called the Eastern Angara, and probably larger than 
the Selinga, comes in from the north. To these 
must be added the contributions of more than a 
hundred and sixty other streams of various sizes. 
It is difficult to imagine, what becomes of the im- 
mense quantity of water thus poured into the lake, 
when it is considered that there is but a single out- 
let. The width of this outlet Ledyard states at a 
quarter of a mile, but Bell says it appeared to him a 
mile. In either case the water discharged by it 
would be in no proportion to the quantity, which 
falls into the lake. In a warmer region, as in that 
where the lake Tsad is situate in Africa, the surplus 
might be easily disposed of by evaporation, but in 
so cold a climate as that of Irkutsk, this is hardly 
possible. The conjecture of an internal communi- 
cation with the great ocean, would seem to afford 
the only plausible solution of the difficulty. Lake 
Superior contains a larger body of water, has a 
small outlet, and is in a climate perhaps as cold, but 
it receives comparatively slender contributions from 
rivers. A similar remark may be made as to the 
Caspian Sea, and the Sea of Aral. The water of 
the Baikal is fresh. No bottom has ever yet been 
reached by the sounding line. When Bell crossed 
it, a hundred years ago, with the Russian ambassa- 
dor on his way to Pekin, a line of more than nine 
hundred feet in length was let down without touch- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARP. 2l\ 

ing the bottom. The report of Professor Pallas on 
this point is not so explicit, as might have been ex- 
pected from a scientific traveller. He says, that a 
ball of packthread, weighing more than an ounce, 
had been used as a sounding line, but no bottom was 
found.* What length he would assign to an ounce 
of packthread is not revealed to his readers. We 
have seen, that one hundred feet from the shore, 
Ledyard's line of three hundred feet met with no 
obstruction. On all sides the shore is bold and 
dangerous, with hardly an anchoring-place, except 
at the mouths of the large rivers. If the water 
could be removed, there would probably be exposed 
a cavitv, or fissure, equal to the present dimensions 
of the lake, and extending to a great depth into the 
earth. Professor Pallas thinks the ordinary level 
of the lake was once higher, and that it flowed over 
the low country at the mouth of the Selinga, which 
is now inhabited. No lava, or volcanic appear- 
ances, have been noticed -in the regions about the 
lake. 

It is considered very remarkable, that the fish 
called chien de met is found in the Baikal. This 
is mentioned by Pallas and Ledyard. The natural 
element of this fish is the ocean, and it is very 
rarely known, as the Professor says, to enter rivers 
even for a small distance. How it should get into 
the Baikal, a fresh water lake at least three thou- 
sand miles from the ocean, taking the windings of 
the river into the account, is deemed a problem of 
no easy solution, especially as this fish has never 



* " Le Baikal a une si grande profondeur dans le milieu, et sur 
les cotes septentrionales, qu'on a deroule un peloton de ficelle pe- 
sant plus d'une once, pour sonder, sans trouver de fond." Voy- 
ages du Professeur Pallas, Tom. VI. p. 118. 



212 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

been known either in the Yenissey, or Angara, by 
which the waters of the lake pass into the Northern 
Sea.* He is not satisfied with this course of mi- 
gration, and would look for a more extraordinary 
cause, but does not venture an opinion on the sub- 
ject. The Baikal contains seals, also, whose usual 
residence is in the salt water. Whether they came 
up the Yenissey and Angara, is another question to 
be settled. Bell thinks they did. Pallas is silent 
on the subject, and so is Ledyard. The skins of 
these seals are preferred to those of salt water seals. 
The inhabitants have a treacherous mode of taking 
these animals. In winter the seals are obliged oc- 
casionally to come up through holes in the ice for 
respiration ; over these holes the seal-catcher 
spreads nets, in which the unwary animal is entan- 
gled, when he escapes from his nether element. 

In the part of the journal to which we have now 
come, are contained some curious speculations re- 
specting the number of rivers in Siberia, and the 
quantity of water, which is continually disembogued 
by them into the Northern Ocean. On his route 
from Moscow to Irkutsk, Ledyard had crossed twen- 
ty-five large navigable rivers, whose courses were 
north. The Yenissey, where he passed it, runs at 
the rate of about five miles an hour, and generally 
the rivers on the east of the Yenissey run two or 
three miles in an hour swifter than the western ones, 
between the Yenissey and Moscow. He thinks 
these twenty-five rivers, taken together, had an ave- 
rage width of half a mile where he crossed them. 
He, also, ascertained that there were twelve rivers 
of a similar description between Irkutsk and Kam- 

* The Angara falls into the Yenissey on its way to the ocean. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 213 

tschatka, making in all thirty-seven. Allowing these 
rivers to be twice as wide at their mouths, as at 
these interior points, which is evidently a moderate 
estimate, Ave shall have a column of water thirty- 
seven miles wide, and of the average depth of rivers 
a mile in width, constantly flowing into the Frozen 
Ocean, with a velocity of at least three or four 
miles an hour. His inference from the whole is, 
that such an immense body of fresh water incessant- 
ly discharged, at points so near each other and so near 
the pole, must have a sensible effect in creating and 
perpetuating the ice in those latitudes. Whatever may 
be thought of this theory, it is an unquestionable 
fact, that a much larger quantity of water is conveyed 
by rivers from Siberia into the Frozen Ocean, than 
runs into the sea in any other part of the globe, 
within the same compass. Whether tliese streams are 
mainly fed by native springs, or by the melting of 
snows, and whether the superabundance of these 
snows is produced by vapors wafted from warmer 
climes, are topics of inquiry that must be left to 
those, who are inclined to pursue them. Snow 
cannot be formed without moisture, but where the 
surface of the earth is bound in frost six or eight 
months in a year, there can be little evaporation or 
moisture. If snow still continues to fall and accu- 
mulate, whence is it that the atmosphere is surcharg- 
ed with the vapors necessary for this operation ? 

We left our traveller with his kibitka, on his first 
day's journey from Irkutsk northward. It was now 
the twenty-sixth of August, and forest trees had be- 
gun to drop their foliage, and put on the garb of 
autumn. The country in the environs of Irkutsk 
was well cultivated, containing fine fields of wheat, 
rye, barley, extensive pasture lands, and a good 



214 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

breed of cattle. The sheep were of the large-tailed 
kind, such as are found at the Cape of Good Hope, 
but the mutton was not well flavored. 

In company with Lieutenant Laxman, a Swedish 
officer, Ledyard embarked on the river Lena, at a 
point one hundred and fifty miles distant from Ir- 
kutsk, with the intention of floating down its current 
to Yakutsk. This river navigation was fourteen 
hundred miles. Where they entered their boat, the 
stream was no more than twenty yards broad, with 
here and there gentle rapids, and high, rugged 
mountains on each side. They were carried along 
from eighty to a hundred miles a day, the river 
gradually increasing in size, and the mountain scen- 
ery putting on an infinite variety of forms, alter- 
nately sublime and picturesque, bold and fantastic, 
with craggy rocks and jutting headlands, bearing on 
their brows the verdure of pines, firs, larches, and 
other evergreens, and Alpine shrubs. All the way 
to Yakutsk, the river was studded with islands, re- 
curring at short intervals, which added to the ro- 
mantic effect of the scenery, and made a voyage 
down the Lena, notwithstanding its many privations, 
by no means an unpleasant trip to a true lover of 
nature, and a hardy, veteran traveller. The weath- 
er was growing cold, and heavy fogs hung about the 
river till a late hour in the morning. They daily 
passed small towns and villages, where they went 
ashore for provisions, or refreshment, as occasion 
required. 

" August 30th. We stopped at a village this 
morning to procure a few stores. They killed for 
us a sheep, gave us three quarts of milk, two loaves 
of bread, cakes with carrots and radishes baked in 
them? onions, one dozen of fresh and two dozen of 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 215 

salt fish, straw and bark to mend the covering of our 
boat; and all for the value of about fourteen pence 
sterling. The poor creatures brought us the straw, 
to show us how their grain was blasted by the cruel 
frost, although it had been reaped before the twenty- 
first of August. The peasants say the mountains 
here are full of bears and wolves. We have seen 
a plenty of wild fowl, which we shoot as we please. 
In the river is the salmon-trout. The people fish 
with seines, and also with spears by torchlight. This 
latter custom is a very universal one ; they fish with 
a torch at Otaheite. The double-headed or Esqui- 
maux paddle is used here. 

" September 2d. My rascal of a soldier stole our 
brandy, and got drunk, and was impertinent. I was 
obliged to handle him roughly to preserve order. — 
Fixed a little sail to our boat. 

" September 4th. Arrived at the town of Kerin- 
ga at daylight, and stayed with the commandant till 
noon, and was treated very hospitably. Some mer- 
chants sent us stores. It is the custom here, if they 
hear of the arrival of a foreigner, to load him with 
their little services. It is almost impossible to pass 
a town of any kind, without being arrested by tnenou 
They have the earnestness of hospitality ; they 
crowd their tables with everything they have to eat 
and drink, and, not content with that, they fill your 
wallet. I wish I could think them as honest as they 
are hospitable. The reason why the commandant 
did not show his wife, was because he was jealous 
of her. I have observed this to be a prevailing pas- 
sion here. The river on each side as we pass is 
bounded by vast rocky cliffs, the highest mass of 
rocks I ever saw. 

" September 1 5th. Snow squalls with fresh gales ; 
up all night at the helm myself. 



216 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

" September 17th. Ninety versts from Yakutsk. 
Passed yesterday a very odd arrangement of rocks, 
which line the margin of the river for sixty versts. 
They are of talc, and appear formerly to have been 
covered with earth, but are now entirely bare. 
They are all of a pyramidal form, and about one 
hundred and fifty feet in height ; detached at their 
basis, and disposed with extraordinary regularity. 
These rocky pyramids appear to terminate the long 
mountainous south and east banks of the Lena, 
which have uniformly continued from Katchuga, 
where I first embarked on the river." 

On the eighteenth of September he arrived at Ya- 
kutsk, after a fatiguing voyage of twenty-two days, 
in a small bateau on the Lena. During this period, 
he had passed from a summer climate to one of 
rigorous cold. When he left Irkutsk, it was just in 
the midst of harvest time, and the reapers were in 
the fields ; but when he entered Yakutsk, the snow 
was six inches deep, and the boys were whipping 
their tops on the ice. He debarked from his bateau 
two miles above the town, and there mounted a 
sledge, drawn by an ox, with a Yakuti Indian on his 
back, and guided by a cord passing through the car- 
tilage of his nose. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 217 



CHAPTER X. 

Interview with the Commandant of Yakutsk. — Stopped at this place 
on account of the advanced state of the season. — His severe dis- 
appointment at this event. — Detained under false pretences. — 
Takes up his residence in Yakutsk for the winter. — Elephants' 
bones on the banks of the Lena, and in other parts of the coun- 
try. — General remarks on the various tribes of Tartars in Siberia. 
— Characteristics of savages in cold and warm climates. — Kal- 
muks have two modes of writing. — Their manner of living. — 
The Yakuti Tartars. — Influence of religion upon them. — The 
love of freedom common to all the Tartars. — Their dwellings. — 
Intermarriages between the Russians and Tartars. — In what de- 
gree the color of descendants is affected by such intermarriages. 
— Peculiarities of features in the Tartar countenance. — Form 
and use of the Tartar pipe. — Dress.— Difficulty of taking vocab- 
ularies of unknown languages. — Marriage ceremonies. — Notions 
of theology. — Practice of scalping. — Wampum. — Classification 
of the Tartars and North American Indians. — Language a crite- 
rion for judging of the affinity between the different races of 
men. — Causes of the difference of color in the human race. — 
Tartars and American Indians the same people. 

Ledyard immediately waited on the command- 
ant, delivered his letter from the governor general, 
and made known his situation and designs. It was 
his wish to press forward with as much expedition 
as possible to Okotsk, lest the winter should shut in 
before he could reach that town, where he hoped to 
seize upon the first opportunity in the spring, to se- 
cure a passage to the American continent. The 
distance from Yakutsk was between six and seven 
hundred miles. Lodgings were provided for him 
by order of the commandant, with whom he had 
already dined, and who soon after came to see him. 
Imagine his dismay, when the commandant assured 
him, that the season was already so far advanced as 
to render a journey to Okotsk impossible. 

" What, alas, shall I do," exclaims he in his jour- 
19 



218 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

nal, " for I am miserably prepared for this unlooked 
for delay. By remaining here through the winter, 
I cannot expect to resume my march until May, 
which will be eight months. My funds ! I have but 
two long frozen stages more, and I shall be beyond 
the want, or aid of money, until, emerging from the 
deep deserts, I gain the American Atlantic States ; 
and then, thy glowing climates, Africa, explored, I 
will lay me down, and claim my litle portion of the 
globe I have viewed ; may it not be before. How 
many of the noble-minded have been subsidiary to 
me, or to my enterprise ; yet that meagre demon, 
Poverty, has travelled with me hand in hand over 
half the globe, and witnessed what — the tale I will 
not unfold ! * Ye children of wealth and idleness, 
| what a profitable commerce might be made between 
us. A little of my toil might better brace your 
bodies, give spring to mind and zest to enjoyment ; 
and a very little of that wealth, which you scatter 
around you, would put it beyond the power of any- 
thing but death to oppose my kindred greetings with 
all on earth, that bear the stamp of man. This is 
the third time, that I have been overtaken and ar- 
rested by winter ; and both the others, by giving 
time for my evil genius to rally his hosts about me, 
have defeated the enterprise. Fortune, thou hast 
humbled me at last, for I am this moment the slave 
of cowardly solicitude, lest in the heart of this dread 
winter, there lurk the seeds of disappointment to 
my ardent desire of gaining the opposite continent. 
But I submit." 

These melancholy forebodings were but too literal- 
ly verified, as the issue will prove. In a letter to 
Colonel Smith from Yakutsk, he speaks again of this 
disappointment in the following manner. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 219 

" The commandant assured me, that he had or- 
ders from the governor general to render me all 
possible kindness and service ; ' But, Sir,' continued 
he, * the first service I am bound to render you is, 
to beseech you not to attempt to reach Okotsk this 
winter.' He spoke to me in French. I almost 
rudely insisted on being permitted to depart imme- 
diately, and expressed surprise that a Yakuti Indian, 
and a Tartar horse, should be thought incapable of 
following a man, born and educated in the latitude 
of forty. He declared upon his honor, that the 
journey was impracticable. The contest lasted two 
or three days, in which interval, being still fixed in 
my opinion, I was preparing for the journey. The 
commandant at length waited on me, and brought 
with him a trader, a very good, respectable looking 
man of about fifty, as a witness to the truth and 
propriety of his advice to me. This trader, for ten 
or twelve years, had passed and repassed often from 
Yakutsk to Okotsk. I was obliged, however severe- 
ly I might lament the misfortune, to yield to two 
such advocates for my happiness. The trader held 
out to me all the horrors of the winter, and the se- 
verity of the journey at the best season ; and the 
commandant, the goodness of his house and the 
society here, all of which would be at my service. 
The difficulty of the journey I was aware of; but 
when I assented to its impracticability, it was a com- 
pliment ; for I do not believe it is so, nor hardly 
anything else. 

" It is certainly bad in theory to suppose the sea- 
sons can triumph over the efforts of an honest man. 
The proffered hospitality of the commandant I have 
no doubt was sincere, because in Russia generally, 
and particularly in Siberia, it is the fashion to be 



/ 



I 



220 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

hospitable. It is probable, also, that it is a natural 
principle. I should, however, have said less to them 
about the matter, had I not been without clothes, 
and with only a guinea and one fourth in my purse ; 
and in a place where the necessaries of life are 
dearer than in Europe, and clothing still dearer by 
the same comparison. And, besides, the people of 
all descriptions here, as far as they are able, live in 
all the excess of Asiatic luxury, joined with such 
European excesses, as have migrated hither. Add 
to all these, that they are universally and extremely 
ignorant, and adverse to every species of intellectu- 
al enjoyment, and I will declare to you, that I was 
never before so totally at a loss how to accommodate 
myself to my situation. The only consolation I 
have, of the argumentative kind, is to reflect, that 
he who travels for information must be supposed to 
want it. By being here eight months, I shall be able 
to make my observations much more extensive, re- 
specting the country and its inhabitants, than if I 
had passed directly through it j and this also is a 
satisfaction." 

It being thus determined, against his opinion and 
wishes, that he should not proceed, he resolved to 
reconcile himself to his fate, and to make the best 
use of his time, which circumstances would allow. 
He had entered the following memorandum in his 
journal, while coming down the Lena. " Yakutsk 
is the last place where I shall be able to make any 
inquiries, therefore let them be extensive." He now 
set himself earnestly to the task of complying with 
this injunction, and of collecting as much informa- 
tion as possible. The facts and reflections, which 
he thought worth preserving, are recorded in his 
diary without method or connexion. It was his 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD, 221 

manner, as we have already seen, to write down only- 
hints, to state facts briefly, and throw out his own 
remarks upon them in language concise and unstudi- 
ed. These particulars, as heretofore, must be 
remembered in reading the free extracts, which will 
be made from the part of his journal written at 
Yakutsk. 

There is some room for doubt, whether the com- 
mandant was perfectly honest, in advising and per- 
suading Ledyard to desist from his purpose of pro- 
ceeding immediately to Okotsk. In the first place, 
it was certainly not an uncommon thing to perform 
that journey in the winter, and the commandant's 
tender concern for the sufferings of the traveller, 
who knew what was before him, and was eager to 
grapple with every hardship in the way, could 
scarcely be such as to induce him, from this motive 
alone, to urge his delay for eight months in Yakutsk. 
His bringing in the trader to strengthen his argu- 
ment, on the same benevolent grounds, is moreover 
a suspicious circumstance. Ledyard yielded to their 
persuasions, against his will and his judgment, and 
was only surprised that he should meet two men in 
Siberia, entire strangers to him, who should have his 
happiness so much at heart. 

Again, the original letter of recommendation from 
Jacobi, the governor general of Irkutsk, to the com- 
mandant of Yakutsk, has been preserved amongst 
Ledyard's papers. It is written in the Russian lan- 
guage and character.* After recommending the 
bearer in general terms, and stating that he wished to 



A translation of this letter was procured from the Russian Lega- 
tion, through the politeness of Mr Poletica, while he was minister 
from the court of Petersburg to the United States. 

19* 



222 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD, 

pass through to the Ameriean continent, with a view 
of acquiring a knowledge of that country, Jacobi 
adds ; " His object seems to be, that of joining a 
certain secret naval expedition ; I earnestly request 
you, therefore, to receive Mr Ledyard most kindly, 
and to assist him every posible way in all his wishes, 
and to forward him without the least delay to the 
abovementioned expedition." The passage in this 
letter demanding particular attention, is that in which 
the governor general enjoins it on the command- 
ant, with marked emphasis, to treat him kindly, and 
send him forward according to his wishes without 
delay. Now if he had given this order seriously, it 
would not have been done, unless it was intended to 
be obeyed, and Jacobi knew very well whether the 
journey was practicable at the season, when the let- 
ter would arrive ; and if it was in fact a serious and 
positive order, it is not likely that the commandant 
would have hesitated to carry it instantly into effect. 
My inference is, that there were secret instructions 
sent at the same time to detain Ledyard in Yakutsk, 
and that the commandant for this purpose resorted 
to the artifice of a pretended concern for his health 
and comfort, that all suspicions of any designed in- 
terference might be lulled to sleep. It is remarka- 
ble, too, that the letter of recommendation was sent 
open, and was returned to Ledyard after having 
been read by the commandant. This manoeuvre 
was artfully contrived to quiet his apprehensions, and 
cause him to believe, that the governor general had 
taken a lively interest in his success, and was dis- 
posed to render him efficient aid. To this subject I 
shall have occasion to recur. 

Meantime let us return to the occupations of the 
traveller, while he was thus unconsciously a prisoner 



- LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 223 

at Yakutsk. He pursued with diligence his inqui- 
ries, and lost no opportunity" of seeking knowledge 
wherever he could find it, particularly on those top- 
ics, which he was fond of contemplating. In the 
letter to Colonel Smith, mentioned above, are con- 
tained some observations, besides those already 
quoted, which are in harmony with the writer's 
usual turn of mind, and mode of expressing his 
thoughts. 

" I cannot say, that my voyage on the Lena has 
furnished me with anything new, and yet no travel- 
ler ever passed by scenes, that more constantly en- 
gaged the heart and the imagination. I suppose no 
two philosophers would think alike about them. A 
painter and a poet would be much more likely to 
agree. There are some things, however, not un- 
worthy of a philosophical inquiry. The Lena is 
very indifferent for navigation, from this place to- 
wards Irkutsk. In some mountains near the river 
are large salt mines, which afford a supply to all the 
adjacent country. It is pure, solid, transparent, 
mineral salt, and found in veins. The pieces that I 
have seen, with the commandant here, are six and 
nine inches square. When pulverized for the table, 
it is much the most delicate salt I ever saw, of a 
perfect white, and an agreeable taste, but I imagine 
not so strong by one third, as our West India salt. 
There are also upon the banks of the Lena, and in- 
deed all over this country, great quantities of ele- 
phants' bones. The commandant possesses some 
of the teeth of that animal, larger than any I saw in 
the royal museum at Petersburg, and they are as 
sound as they ever were. The hafts of knives, 
spoons, and a variety of other things are here made 
of them, and they equal any ivory I have seen from 



224 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

Africa. If I can, I will send you a specimen of this 
fine bone, and of the salt likewise. Indeed, I want 
to send you many things, but it is an embarrassing 
circumstance, when one has correspondents in the 
antipodes. And though no man could show more 
kindness, or render more service to a traveller, than 
Dr Pallas has done to me, yet I am reserved in ask- 
ing them upon all occasions. Brown and Porter, 
too j — I wonder their patience is not exhausted. Ii 
has been as thoroughly tried, as yours was while I 
was at Petersburg. 

" The fact is, I am a bankrupt to the world, but I 
hope it will consider well the occasion of my being 
such. I believe it will. My English creditors are 
the most numerous, and I have great consolation on 
that account, because they think and act with such 
heavenly propriety. In most parts of the world, and 
as much in Russia as anywhere, and in Siberia most 
of all, it is the custom not to think at all. In this 
case it is difficult to liquidate, rationally, a receipt 
and expenditure of three dinners and a bow. For 
the same reason, when I left France my accounts 
were not closed, and from that day to this I know 
not whether I owe France, or France owes me. 
But here at Yakutsk it will be infinitely worse, and 
without any violence to the metaphor, or pedantic 
affectation, I declare to you, that to leave Yakutsk 
with respectability and reach Okotsk alive, will be 
to pass a Scylla and Charybdis, which I have never 
yet encountered. Both you, myself, and my friends, 
had formed at London very erroneous opinions of 
the equipment necessary to pass through this country, 
and particularly as to the manner of travelling. It 
has been the source of all my troubles. They have 
been many, and I have done wrong to feel them so 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 225 

severely. I owe the world some services, which I 
shall make great efforts to perform. Make my best 
compliments to my friends, and tell them that I have 
a heart as big as St Paul's Church in such service 
as theirs." 

The mistake here alluded to, in regard to the 
mode of travelling, was the plan formed by himself 
and his friends in London, that he should walk, as 
being more economical. By experiment he proved 
this to have been an ill advised scheme ; for walking 
not only consumed a great deal more time, but the 
expenses in the aggregate were higher, than by the 
usual mode of travelling post through those coun- 
tries. In a letter from Irkutsk he says, " It has been 
to this moment a source of misfortune to me, that I 
did not begin to ride post from Hamburg. I have 
footed it at a great expense, besides the loss of my 
baggage, which I severely feel. Never did I adopt 
an idea so fatal to my happiness." The reason why 
he viewed this oversight in so serious a light was, 
that it would inevitably be the cause of keeping him 
back, a full season, from his passage across the sea 
to the American continent, and thus in the end a 
whole year would be lost. Add to this the innu- 
merable accident,?, that might intervene to defeat his 
purpose altogether. Whereas, had he proceeded by 
the shortest conveyance from Hamburg to the Rus- 
sian capital, he might with great ease have reached 
Kamtschatka the same season. The origin of his 
disasters may chiefly be referred, however, to his 
fit of romantic benevolence in seeking out Major 
Langborn ; wasting his precious time in Copenha- 
gen, and sharing with his erratic countryman his 
scanty means, which, in their whole amount, were 
scarcely enough to keep himself alone from beggary. 



/ 



226 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 



I shall now bring together, in as connected a form 
as the nature of the particulars will admit, Ledyard's 
observations on various tribes of Tartars, with whom 
he became more or less acquainted in Siberia. His 
researches were desultory, but pursued with inquisi- 
tiveness ; his statements are often curious, some- 
times important ; they will afford amusement to the 
general reader, as well as information to the philo- 
sophical inquirer. 

" Of all the gradations of men, the savage is the 
most formal and ceremonious, notwithstanding his 
wants and occupations are few, and he can with 
happy indifference endure privation. His heaven is 
peace and leisure. Ceremonials, like the uninter- 
rupted tenor of his mind, may be supposed to be 
transmitted unchanged through many generations. 
Hence many things, which marked the earliest peri- 
od of history, and which have left no vestige with 
civilized man, show themselves at this day among 
savages. Their luxuries, if such they may be call- 
ed, are of that kind which nature suggests. Dress, 
which in hot climates is an inconvenience, does not 
become so much the object of attention and delight ; 
and here, therefore, the savage is more nice in the 
iaidulgence of his appetites. On the contrary, in 
cold climates, bodily covering being all important, 
ingenuity is directed to that point. A feeble kind 
of infant fancy grows out of the efforts of necessity, 
and displays its little arts in adorning the person 
with awkward and fantastic" decorations. But here 
the appetites are less lively and distinguishing. With 
respect to food, the vilest, and that totally unprepar- 
ed, does not come amiss, and the most delicate is 
not seized with eagerness. Give a cake to a Swe- 
dish Laplander, Finlander, or northern Tartar, and 






LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 227 

he eats it leisurely ; do the same to an Otaheitan, 
Italian peasant, or Spanish fisherman, and he will 
put the whole cake into his mouth if he can. The 
Empress has caused houses to be built in the Rus- 
sian manner, at the expense of government, and 
ordered them to be offered to the Yakuti, upon the 
single condition of their dwelling in them ; but they 
have universally refused, preferring their apparently 
more uncomfortable Yourtes or Wigwams. 

" The Tongusians are a wandering people, living 
solely by the chase. They rarely stop above two or 
three days in a place. They have tents or yourtes, 
made of bark, which they leave on the spot where 
they have encamped. When they march they tell 
their women that they are going to such a mountain, 
river, lake, or forest, and leave them to bring the 
baggage. They are extremely active in the chase, 
and instances have occurred in which they were 
found dead, having pursued their game down some 
precipice. 

" The Kalmuks, or Buretti, write their language 
in columns, like the Chinese ; the Kazan Tartars 
from right to left, like the Hebrews.* The reason 
why the Buretti have the art of writing is, that they 
last migrated from the borders of Thibet. There 
is not another Asiatic tribe in all Siberia, that write 



* Dr Clarke mentions having procured at Taganrog, on the sea 
of Azof, a specimen of writing from the Kalmuk priests. The 
characters were arranged in columns on scarlet linen, and read from 
the top to the hottom. After returning to England he was inform- 
ed, that this writing was Sanscrit. He adds, that the Kalmuks in 
that part of Asia had two modes of writing, one with the vulgar 
. character, so called, and the other with the sacred. This latter 
is read from left to right, like the European languages ; the former 
in columns, and would seem to be Sanscrit. Clarke's Travels^ 
Vol. I. c. 15. 



/ 



228 LIFE 0F J0HN LEDYARD. 

their language, or have any remains of writing 
among them.* The sound of the Yakuti language 
very closely resembles that of the Chinese ; and the 
same, indeed, may be said of the languages of all 
the Asiatic Tartars. I have already observed, that 
the Yakuti is supposed to be the oldest language, and 
that other tribes have some knowledge of it. 

" The Kalmuks live mostly by their flocks, which 
consist of horses, sheep, goats, and cows. In sum- 
mer they dwell in the plains, in winter retreat to the 
mountains, where their flocks feed on buds, twigs 
of trees, and moss. They have much milk, which 
serves them for food, and of which they also make 
a kind of brandy. f They likewise hunt. When 
any of their flock are sick, or lame, they kill and eat 
them. 

" I observe there is one continual flow of good 
nature and cheerfulness among the Tartars. They 
never abuse each other by words, but, when pro- 
voked, look for revenge, either secret or open. 
The Tongusians fight duels with their bows, and 
with knives. They, and the other roving Tartars, 
have the limits of their hunting grounds ascertained 
and marked, like the Aborigines of North America. 



* It must be observed, that Ledyard everywhere speaks of the 
Buretti as the same people with the Kalmuks, and both as direct 
descendants of the Mongul Tartars. What he says of either, there- 
fore, may commonly be applied to the other. 

f The manner of extracting this spirituous liquor from milk is 
largely described by Pallas. The milk is first fermented, in which 
state it contains a vinous acid. It is then subjected to the usual 
process of distillation, and the result is a species of liquor, which 
has intoxicating qualities, and of which the Kalmuks are very fond. 
Mare's milk is considered the best for this purpose, and cow's milk 
the next. The milk of sheep is seldom distilled, as it contains but 
a small quantity of the spirituous principle. Voyages du Pro- 
fesseur Pallas, Tom. II. pp. 168 — 175. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 229 

" The Yakuti here take their children out in the 
evening, and teach them the names of the principal 
stars, how to direct their march by them, and how 
to judge of the weather. Astronomy must have 
been an early science. The Russ and Yakuti ap- 
pear to live together here in harmony and peace, 
without any distinction as to national difference, or 
superiority and inferiority. I know of but one cir- 
cumstance, (but, alas ! it is an important one,) in 
which the Yakuti are not on an equal footing with 
the Russ. They hold no offices, civil or military. 
The Russians have been here tw T o hundred and fifty 
years, and the Yakuti Tartars have been under the 
Russian government ever since, yet have they made 
no alteration in their dress or manners in general ; 
but the Russians have conformed to the dress of the 
Yakuti. Very few of them have embraced the 
Christian religion, and those, who have, perform its 
duties with great indifference. In this respect, also, 
the Tartar, whether in Asia or America, acts up to 
that sui generis character, which distinguishes him 
from other branches of the human family. Religion 
of any kind, professed by any' other people, is usu- 
ally a serious, contemplative, and important concern, 
and forms at least as remarkable a trait in their 
character, as any circumstance of fashion or habit ; 
but it forms no part of the character of a Tartar. 
I have not in my mind the Christian system particu- 
larly ; its doctrines are indeed mysterious to the 
greatest minds and best hearts. To a Tartar they 
must surely be so. The surprise is therefore the 
less, why they should so feebly affect the Tartar 
character. But the Mahometan system, which 
courts the senses, and appeals to the passions, has 
operated no farther on the Tartar, than to shave his 
20 



230 LIFE 0F J0HN LEDYARD. 

head. There it stops ', it does not enter it, nor his 
heart. 

" The Tartar is a man of nature, not of art. His 
philosophy is therefore very simple, but sometimes 
sublime. Let us enumerate some of his virtues. 
He is a lover of peace. No lawyer here, perplex- 
ing natural rights of property. No wanton Helen, 
displaying fatal charms. No priest with his out- 
rageous zeal has ever disturbed the peace. Never, 
I believe, did a Tartar speak ill of the Deity, or envy 
his fellow creatures. ' He is contented to be what he 
is. Hospitable and humane, he is uniformly tranquil 
and cheerful, laconic in thought, word, and action. 
This is one great reason, and I think the greatest, 
why they have been constantly persecuted by na- 
tions of a different disposition, and why they have 
always fled before them, and been content to live 
anywhere, if they could only live in peace. Some 
have attributed this conduct to a love of liberty. 
True ; but their ideas, both of peace and liberty, 
are different from ours. The Tartar holds in equal 
estimation his dear otium, and his libertas. They 
talk much of liberty in England, for example ; but I 
think it would be less agreeable for a Tartar to live 
there, than in Russian Siberia, where there is less 
liberty. The Tartars, indeed, think differently from 
most people of Europe, and, I believe, of Africa. 
If the Virginia planters were to give their Negroes 
more commodious houses to inhabit, instead of their 
poor huts, and encourage them otherwise to live in 
them, I believe the African would be of the same 
mind as the planter, and gladly accept the proposal. 
The same thing exactly has been offered here to the 
Yakuti by the crown ; they have much stronger in- 
ducements to accept the offer than the African ; 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 231 

but they have not, and they will not, though no con- 
dition accompanies the offer. They will inhabit the 
yourte. 

" The yourte, or, as the American Tartars call it 
pretty generally, wigwam, is in this country a substi- 
tute for a tent. In milder climates it is made either 
of skins or the bark of trees, of sedge or some other 
kind of grass. It is always of a conical form, not 
divided into apartments, having an aperture at the 
top, and the fire made on the ground under it. 
Around the sides of the yourte, if it is only tempora- 
ry, are placed the baggage and the furniture ; if it is 
not temporary, seats for sitting and sleeping upon are 
ranged around the sides. The yourtes in the neigh- 
bourhood of Russian towns and settlements are made 
a little differently ; they are sunk two or three feet 
in the ground, square, and divided into apartments, 
the frame of wood, the sides plastered with mud, 
and a flat roof covered with earth. The fire is in 
the centre, with a slight little chimney. They have 
two or three little windows ; in summer, of talc ; in 
winter, of ice. One apartment of the yourte is for 
the cow, ox, or horse, if the owner should possess 
any. These yourtes resemble not a tent ; but re- 
mote from towns all the Tartars have tents either of 
skins, bark, or grass. 

" The people in this country, that are bora half 
Russ and half Tartar, are very different from the 
Tartars or Russ, and much superior to either of 
them. The European nations, that intermarry most 
with other nations, are the handsomest. How far 
may this cause be supposed to have made the Negro, 
and the Tartar, so different from the European ; or, 
which is more probable, have made the European 
so different from the Tartar and the Negro ? The 



232 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

commandant showed me recently a man descended 
from- a Yakuti father and Russian mother, and the 
son of this man. The color of the first descendant 
is as fair as the second, and both as fair as the Rus- 
sian mother and grandmother. After the first de- 
scent, intermarriage has a less perceptible effect on 
the color. This change of the color by intermar- 
riage is generally from the darker to the lighter. 
The color of the hair and eyes also inclines to be 
light, but does not always accompany the change of 
color in the skin. Upon the whole, as I have said 
before, with respect to difference of color with the 
. Indian and European, they appear to me to be the 
effect of natural causes. I have given much atten- 
tion to the subject on this continent. Its vast extent, 
and the variety of its inhabitants, afford the best field 
in the world in which to examine it. By the same 
gentle gradation, by which I passed from the height of 
civilization at Petersburg to incivilization in Siberia, 
I also passed from the, fair European to the copper- 
colored Tartar ; I say the copper-colored Tartar, 
but there is the same variety of color among the 
Tartars in Siberia, as among the other nations of the 
earth. The journal of a Russian officer, which I 
have seen, informs me that the Samoiedes, among 
whom he lived two years, are fairer than the Yakuti, 
who are of a light olive, and fairer than the Tongu- 
sians, or the Buretti, who are copper-colored. Yet 
the three last mentioned tribes are all Mongul Tar- 
tars. The greater part of mankind, compared with 
European civilization, are uncivilized, and this part 
are all darker than the other. There are no white 
savages, and few barbarous people, that are not brown 
or black. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 233 

"The equally distinguishing characteristic of fea- 
ture, in the T.artar face, invites me into a field of 
observation, which I am not able at present to give 
bounds to. I must therefore resign it to those, who 
have leisure and .a taste for such inquiries, content- 
ing myself with furnishing a few facts, and describing 
this strange dissimilarity in the human face, accord- 
ing to the observations I have made. This I should 
be able to do anatomically, but I am not. The Tar- 
tar face, in the first impression it gives, approaches 
nearer to the African than the European ; and this 
impression is strengthened, on a more deliberate 
examination of the individual features, and whole 
compages of the countenance ; yet it is very differ- 
ent from an African face. The nose forms a strong 
feature in the human face. I have seen instances 
among the Kalmuks, where the nose between the 
eyes has been much flatter and broader, than I have 
ever witnessed in Negroes ; and some few instances 
where it has been as broad over the nostrils quite to 
the end 5 but the nostrils in any case are much 
smaller than in Negroes. Where I have seen those 
noses, they were accompanied with a large mouth 
and thick lips ; and these people were genuine Kal- 
muk Tartars. The nose protuberates but little from 
the face, and is shorter than that of the European. 
The eyes universally are at a great distance from 
each other, and very small ; at each corner of the 
eye the skin projects over the ball ; the part appears 
swelled ; the eyelids go in nearly a strait line from 
corner to corner. When open, the eye appears as 
in a square frame. The mouth generally, however, 
is of a middling size, and the lips thin. The next 
remarkable features are the cheek bones. These, 
like the eyes, are very remote from each other, high, 
20* 



234 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

broad, and withal project a little forward. The face 
is flat. When 1 look at a Tartar en profile, I can 
hardly see the nose between the eyes, and if he blow 
a coal of fire, I cannot see the nose at all. The 
face is then like an inflated bladder. The forehead 
is narrow and low. The face has a fresh color, and 
on the cheek bones there is commonly a good ruddy 
hue. 

" The faces of Tartars have not a variety of ex- 
pression. I think the predominating one is pride j 
but whenever I have viewed them, they have seen a 
stranger. The intermixture by marriage does not 
operate so powerfully in producing a change of fea- 
tures, as of complexion, in favor of Europeans. I 
have seen the third in descent, and the Tartar pre- 
vailed over the European features. The Tartars 
from time immemorial (I mean the Asiatic Tartars) 
have been a people of a wandering disposition. Their 
converse has been more among beasts of the forest, 
than among men ; and when among men, it has only 
been those of their own nation. They have ever 
been savages, averse to civilization, and have never 
until very lately mingled with other nations, and now 
rarely. Whatever cause may have originated their 
peculiarities of features, the reason why they still 
continue is their secluded way of life, which has pre- 
served them from mixing with other people. I am 
ignorant, how far a constant society with beasts may 
operate in changing the features, but 1 am persuaded 
that this circumstance, together with an uncultivated, 
state of mind, if we consider a long and uninterrupted 
succession of ages, must account in some degree for 
this remarkable singularity. 

" Mr John Hunter of London has made, or- is 
making, some anatomical examinations of the head 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 235 

of a Negro, which is said externally at least to re- 
semble that of & monkey. If I could do it, I would 
send him the head of a Tartar, who lives by the 
chase, and is constantly in the society of animals 
which have high cheek bones ; and perhaps, on ex- 
amining such a head, he would find an anatomical 
resemblance to the fox, the wolf, the bear, or the 
dog. I have thought, that even in Europe mechan- 
ical employments, having been continued for a long 
time among the same people, have had a considera- 
ble influence in giving a uniform character to their 
features. I know of no people, among whom there 
is such a uniformity of features, (except the Chinese, 
the Jews, and the Negroes,) as among the Asiatic 
Tartars. They are distinguished, indeed, by differ- 
ent tribes, but this is only nominal. Nature has not 
acknowledged the distinction, but on the contrary, 
marked them, wherever found, with the indisputable 
stamp of Tartars. Whether in Nova Zembla, 
Mongolia, Greenland, or on the banks of the Missis- 
sippi, they are the same people, forming the most 
numerous, and, if we must except the Chinese, the 
most ancient nation of the globe. But I, for my- 
self, do not except the Chinese, because I have no 
doubt of their being of the same family. 

" The Tongusians, the Tchuktchi, the Kuriles, 
and the Nova-Zembleans are tattooed. The Mohe- 
gan tribe of Indians in America practised tattooing. 
I find as yet nothing analogous to the American cal- 
umet, except in the use of it. The Tartars here, 
when they smoke the pipe, give it round to every 
one in the company. The form of the pipe is 
universally the identical form of the Chinese pipe. 
I expect to find it in America, since the. form of the 
pipe on the tomahock resembles it. This form 



236 LIF E OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

intimates economy, and that the original custom of 
smoking the pipe was a mere luxury. It holds but 
a very little. The manner, in which the Tartars 
and Chinese use it, corroborates that idea. They 
make but one or two drafts from the pipe, and those 
they swallow, or discharge through the nose, and 
men put the pipe by. They say that the smoke 
thus taken is exhilarating. As the Chinese pipe is 
found universally among the Siberian Tartars, I 
think it probable that the custom of smoking migrat- 
ed with them to America, and thence by Sir Wal- 
ter Raleigh made its way east to England. If so, 
the custom has travelled in a' singular manner. 
Why did it not come from the Tartars west to En- 
gland ? 

" The Asiatic Tartars never change their dress ; 
it is the same on all occasions ; in the field, in the 
house, on a visit, on a holiday. They never have 
but one dress, and that is as fine as they can make 
it. Those that live with the Russians in their vil- 
lages are above mediocrity as to riches, but discover 
the same indifference about accumulating more, and 
for the concerns of to-morrow, that a North Ameri- 
can Indian does. They stroll about the village, and, if 
they can, get drunk, smoke their pipe, or go to sleep. 
The gardens of the Russians are cultivated more or 
less, but theirs lie undisturbed. The house of the 
Russian is a scene of busy occupation, filled with 
furniture, provisions, women, children, dirt, and 
noise ; that of the Tartar is as silent and as clean 
as a mosque. If the season admits, the residents 
are all abroad, unless perhaps an old woman or man. 
There is very little furniture, and that rolled up and 
bound in parcels in a corner of the house, and no 
appearance of provisions. If it happen, that they 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 237 

profess the Russian religion, they treat it with strange 
indifference, not thinkingly, but because they do not 
think at all about it. 

" I have not as yet taken any vocabularies of the 
Tartar languages. If I take any, they will be very 
short ones. Nothing is more apt to deceive than vo- 
cabularies, when taken by an entire stranger. Men 
of scientific curiosity make use of them in investigat- 
ing questions of philosophy, as well as history, and 
I think often with too much confidence, since noth- 
ing is more difficult, than to take a vocabulary, that 
shall answer any good ends for such a purpose. 
The different sounds of the same letters, and of the 
same combinations of letters, in the languages of Eu- 
rope, present an insurmountable obstacle to making a 
vocabulary, which shall be of general use. The 
different manner, also, in which persons of the same 
language would write the words of a new language, 
would be such, that a stranger might suppose them 
to be two languages. Most uncultivated languages 
are very difficult to be orthographized in another l 
language. They are generally guttural ; but when 
not so, the ear of a foreigner cannot accommodate 
itself to the inflection of the speaker's voice, soon 
enough to catch the true sound. This must be done 
instantaneously ; and even in a language with which 
we are acquainted, we are not able to do it for sev- 
eral years. I seize, for instance, the accidental mo- 
ment, when a savage is inclined to give me the 
names of things. The medium of this conversation 
is only signs. The savage may wish to give me the 
word for head, and lays his hand on the top of his 
head. I am not certain whether he means the head, 
or the top of the head, or perhaps the hair of the 
head. He may wish to say leg, and puts his hand 



238 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

to the calf. I cannot tell whether he means the 
leg, or the calf, or flesh, or the flesh. There are 
other difficulties. The island of Onalaska is on the 
coast of America opposite to Asia. There are a 
few Russian traders on it. Being there with Cap- 
tain Cook, I was walking one day on the shore in 
company with a native, who spoke the Russian lan- 
guage. I did not understand it. I was writing the 
names of several things, and pointed to the ship, 
supposing he would understand that I wanted the 
name of it. He answered me in a phrase, which in 
Russ meant, / know. I wrote down, a ship. I gave 
him some snuff, which he took, and held out his hand 
for more, making use of a word, which signified in 
Russ, a little. I wrote, more. 

" The Asiatic Tartars have different methods of 
hunting the moose, and such kind of game, but the 
most prevalent is like that of American Indians by 
stratagem. So they catch ducks at the mouth of the 
river Kolyma ; so the Otaheitans catch fish some- 
times ; and so the uncivilized parts of mankind war 
against each other. 

" I understand from Captain Billings's Journal, that 
the universal method among the Tchuktchi Indians, 
in the ceremony of marriage, is for the man to pur- 
chase the woman, or make presents to her parents. 
It is also customary for the young man to serve a 
stipulated time with the parents of the bride. In 
case of disunion afterwards, which happens without 
passion, the presents that have been made are re- 
turned. If either party dies, the other marries again 
as soon as convenient ; and the sooner the better, they 
say, because they ought not to lament what can be 
repaired. I suppose the love in this case below that, 
which existed in the bosoms of Eloise and Abelard, 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 239 

and I suppose the philosophy as much above theirs, 
as the love is below.* 

" All the Asiatic Tartars, like the Aborigines of 
America, entertain the same general notions of theo- 
logy, namely, that there is one great and good God, 
and that he is so good that they have no occasion to 
address him for the bestowment of any favors ; and, 
being good, he will certainly do them no injury. But 
they suffer many calamities ; so they say there is 
another being, the source of evil ; and that he must 
be very powerful, because the evils inflicted on them 
are numerous. To this mischievous deity, there- 
fore, they sacrifice. From him they expect no fa- 
vors, and do not ask any, but deprecate his wrath. 
Their Shamants, or priests, have therefore nothing to 
do with the good God ; their business is solely with 
the other, whom they make free to parcel out in a 
great variety of characters, assigning to each evil a 
presiding subordinate spirit- This affords the Sha- 
mant an opportunity of playing his tricks in an ex- 
traordinary manner. 

" Mr Pennant observes, that the Scythians scalped 



* The following description from Dr Clarke's Travels, is applied 
to the Kalmuks where he travelled on the borders of Persia, in the 
country of the Cossacs. " The ceremony of marriage," says he, 
" among the Kalmuks is performed on horseback. A girl is first 
mounted, who rides off in full speed. Her lover pursues ; if he 
overtakes her, she becomes his wife, and the marriage is consum- 
mated upon the spot. After this she returns with him to his tent. 
But it sometimes happens, that the woman does not wish to mar- 
ry the person by whom she is pursued ; in this case she will not 
suffer him to overtake her. We were assured, that no instance 
occurs of a Kalmuk girl being thus caught, unless she have a par- 
tiality for her pursuer. If she dislikes him, she rides, to use the 
language of English sportsmen, neck or nothing, until she has 
completely effected her escape, or until the pursuer's horse be- 
comes exhausted, leaving her at liberty to return, and to be after- 
wards chased by some more favored admirer." Vol. I. c. 15. 



240 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

their enemies. I have ever thought, since my voy- 
age with Captain Cook, that the same custom under 
different forms exists throughout the islands in the 
Pacific Ocean. It is worthy of remark, that though 
the Indians at Owyhee brought a part of Captain 
Cook's head, yet they had cut all the hair off, which 
they did not return to us. I have also frequently 
observed the islanders to wear great quantities of false 
human hair. All savage nations are fond of preserv- 
ing some badge or testimonial of the victory over 
their enemies, of this hind. The ancient Scythians 
and North American Indians have preferred the scalp, 
and, among the South Sea Islanders, teeth and hair 
•are in repute ; all of them giving preference to some 
part of the head. 

" The wampum, so universally in use among the 
Tartars apparently as an ornament, I cannot but 
suspect is used as a substitute for letters in repre- 
senting their language, by a kind, of hieroglyphic re- 
cord. I intended to make this a subject of atten- 
tion, and to have drawings taken of the Asiatic and 
American wampum, with the view of comparing 
them, but have not been able to do it. I have seen 
the initials of a Tartar's name worked in the wam- 
pum, on the borders of his garment. A people 
having such great respect for their ancestors, as the 
Tartars have, would naturally endeavour to preserve 
some memorials of them." 

Such are the observations of our traveller, on the 
Aboriginal inhabitants of Siberian Asia. In consid- 
ering the Kalmuks, Buretti, Tongusians, and Yakuti, 
as descendants of the Monguls, he accords with oth- 
er writers ; but he advances a bold and novel opinion 
in classifying all these races with the North Ameri- 
can Indians, Greenlanders, and the Chinese. It is 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 34] 

true, the point seems never to have been established, 
how far the affinities between different tribes, or na- 
tions of men, must be carried, in order to bring them 
within the same general class. Traditions, ceremo- 
nies, bodily form and features, habits, laws, religion, 
and resemblance of languages, must all be taken into 
the account. Where there is a similarity in manj 
of these particulars, it may be safely inferred, that 
the people among whom they exist, although inhab- 
iting regions remote from each other, have sprung 
from a common origin ; but it does not follow with 
equal probability, that where this similarity is least 
observable, or perhaps unperceived, they are to be 
set down as radically distinct races of men. So 
innumerable are the causes of change, in all these 
respects, that no rule of this sort can be assumed, 
as applicable to any individual case whatever. Cus- 
toms, laws, pursuits, dress, modes of life, vary with 
the climate and the productions of the soil. People, 
who live by the chase and by fishing, will have few 
of the habits of agriculturists. Approaches to civil- 
ization will gradually introduce a thousand new cus- 
toms. 

Language has been thought the best criterion, by 
which to judge of the affinity between different races, 
and doubtless it is. That two nations should speak 
languages closely resembling each other, is hardly 
possible, unless they originated from the same stock ; 
yet it can by no means be inferred with as much 
certainty, that, because there is a wide dissimilarity 
in their languages, the sources whence they sprung 
were as widely dissimilar. The same causes, which 
change the habits of men under new circumstances 
will change their language. New words, and new 
combinations of words, will be required to express 
21 



242 LIFE 0F JOHN LEDYARD. 

ideas not known before. The intermingling of mi- 
gratory tribes, speaking different languages, must 
also introduce total confusion, out of which would 
most likely grow up a dialect, bearing little analogy 
to either of the primitive tongues. Let such a pro- 
cess be carried on for many generations, by a suc- 
cession of intermixtures, and what clue would there 
be to guide the inquirer through this labyrinth of 
mutations back to the first fountain ? When it is 
considered, moreover, that all these tongues are un- 
written and without any recognised principles, the 
perplexity is increased a hundred fold. According 
to recent discoveries, the Tchuktchi, the natives in- 
habiting the American side of Beiings' Strait, the 
Eskimaux, and the Greenlanders, speak languages 
which have many marks of affinity. Their common 
origin is a very natural inference. Owing to a more 
recent separation, or fewer intermixtures, their lan- 
guage has been preserved with something of its 
primitive form. Had the same favorable circum- 
stances attended the migrations of other tribes, we 
might perliaps now trace them to the same source, 
with as much appearance of probability. We might 
possibly detect similar resemblances between the 
Iroquois and the Yakuti, the Mohegans and the Kam- 
tschadales, and even the Polynesians and the Kal- 
muks. In short, the state of the question is simply 
this. Where obvious analogies exist, we may affirm 
• a connexion between the tribes in which they pre- 
vail, at some remote or proximate period ; but where 
they do not exist, we can say nothing on the subject. 
In the latter case we have no warrant for deciding 
one way or the other. 

Taken in this view, no well founded objection can 
be advanced against Ledyard's opinion, although it 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 243 

would not be easy to establish it by a consecutive 
series of proofs. It was the result of a long observa- 
tion of general appearances, rather than of a minute 
and methodical research. It was not with him an 
idle speculation, indulged for the moment, and then 
dismissed. After his return from Siberia, he reite- 
rated the same sentiments. In connexion with a 
short account of his travels, he writes to a friend in 
these emphatic words. 

" You will please to accept these two observations, 
as the result of extensive and assiduous inquiry. 
They are with me well ascertained facts. The first 
is, that the difference of color in the human species 
(as the observation applies to all but the Negroes, 
whom I have not visited) originates from natural 
causes. The second is, that all the Asiatic Indians, 
called Tartars, and all the Tartars, who formed the 
later armies of Genghis Khan, together with the 
Chinese, are the same people, and that the Ameri- 
can Tartar is also of the same family ; the most an- 
cient and numerous people on earth, and the most 
uniformly alike." 

In this place may be inserted, also, his remarks to 
Mr Jefferson, in a letter written nearly at the same 
time with the above. After reiterating his opinion, 
in regard to the causes of the difference of color in 
the human race, he continues ; 

" I am certain, that all the people you call red 
people on the continent of America, and on the con- 
tinents of Europe and Asia, as far south as the south- 
ern parts of China, are all one people, by whatever 
names distinguished, and that the best general name 
would be Tartar. I suspect that all red people are 
of the same family. I am satisfied that America 
was peopled from Asia, and had some, if not all, its 
animals from thence. 



244 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

. " I am satisfied, that the great general analogy in 
the customs of men can only be accounted for, by 
supposing them all to compose one family ; and, by 

extending the idea, and uniting customs, traditions, 
and history, I am satisfied, that this common origin 
was such, or nearly, as related by Moses, and com- 
monly believed among the nations of the earth. 
There is, also, a transposition of things on the globe, 
that must have been produced by some cause equal 
to the effect, which is vast and curious. Whether I 
repose on arguments drawn from facts observed by 
myself, or send imagination forth to find a cause, 
they both declare to me a general deluge." 

It will be perceived that he uses the word Tartar 
in a broader sense, than is commonly given to it, 
embracing not only all the northern Asiatic races 
and the Chinese, but likewise the Aborigines of North 
America. Pallas says, that even the Monguls and 
Kalmuks are not rightly called Tartars, and that 
these latter people are different from the former in 
their origin, customs, political establishments, and the 
lineaments of their features. They inhabit the 
northern regions of Thibet, and western Siberia, 
never mingling with the Kalmuks. These facts in 
no degree affect Ledyard's use of the word. He 
employs it as a general term, and in a definite man- 
ner, without regard to its original meaning. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 245 



CHAPTER XL 

Climate in Siberia. — Extreme cold. — Congelation of quicksilver. — 
Images in Russian houses. — Attention paid to dogs. — Ice win- 
dows. — Jealousy of the Russians. — Moral condition of the 
Russians in Siberia. — Ledyard's celebrated eulogy on women. — 
Captain Billings meets him at Yakutsk, on his return from the 
Frozen Ocean. — Bering's discovery of the strait called after his 
name — Russian voyages of discovery. — Bering's death. — Rus- 
sian fur trade. — Billings's expedition. — His incompetency to the 
undertaking. — His instructions nearly the same as those drawn 
up by Peter the Great for Bering. — Some of their principal fea- 
tures enumerated. 

A few other selections on miscellaneous topics will 
now be made from that part of the journal, which 
was written at Yakutsk. 

" At Kazan there is abundance of snow ; at Ir- 
kutsk, which is in about the same latitude, very little. 
Here at Yakutsk the atmosphere is constantly charg- 
ed with snow ; it sometimes falls, but very sparingly, 
and that in the daytime ; rarely, if ever, at night. 
The air is much like that which we experienced with 
Captain Cook in mare glaciali, between the latitudes 
of seventy and seventy-two ; seldom a serene sky, 
or detached clouds ; the upper region is a dark, 
still, expanded vapor, with few openings in it. The 
lower atmosphere contains clouds floating overhead, 
resembling fog-banks. In general the motion of 
everything above and below is languid. The sum- 
mers are said to be dry ; the days very hot, nights 
cold, and the weather exceedingly changeable, 
subject to high winds generally from the north, and 
sometimes heavy snows in August. I have seen 
but one aurora borealis, and that not an extraordina- 
ry one. 

" The people in Yakutsk have no wells. They 
21* 



246 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

have tried them to a very great depth, but they 
freeze even in summer ; consequently they have all 
their water from the river. But in winter they can- 
not bring water in its fluid state ; it freezes on the 
way. It is then brought in large cakes of ice to 
their houses, and piled up in their yards. As water 
is wanted, they bring these pieces of ice into the 
warm rooms where they thaw, and become fit for 
use. Milk is brought to market in the same 
way. A Yakuti came into our house to-day with a 
bag full of ice. ' What,' said I to Laxman, ' has 
the man brought ice to sell in Siberia?' It was milk. 
Clean mercury exposed to the air is now constantly 
frozen. By repeated observations I have found in 
December, that two ounces of quicksilver openly 
exposed have frozen hard in fifteen minutes. It may 
be cut with a knife, like lead. Strong cogniac bran- 
dy coagulated. A thermometer, filled with rectified 
spirits of wine, indicated thirty-nine and a half de- 
grees on Reaumur's scale. Captain Billings had, 
on the borders of the Frozen Ocean the winter be- 
fore last, forty-three degrees and three fourths by 
the same thermometer. In these severe frosts the 
air is condensed, like a thick fog. The atmosphere 
itse)f is frozen ; respiration is fatiguing ; all exercise 
must be as moderate as possible ; one's confidence 
is in his fur dress. It is a happy provision of nature, 
that in such intense colds there is seldom any wind ; 
when there is, it is dangerous to be abroad. In 
these seasons, there is no chase ; the animals submit 
themselves to hunger and security, and so does man. 
All nature groans beneath the rigorous winter." 



* The following is the statement of Captain Cochrane, respect- 
ing the degree of cold at the river Kolyma, which he visited in the 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 247 

" The first settlers here [Russians] came round 
by the North Sea, about two hundred and fifty years 
ago. A gentleman showed me to-day a copy of a 
marriage contract done at Moscow, two hundred and 
five years ago. It is a folio page, and there are only 
sixteen words intelligible to an ordinary reader, 
which correspond to the orthography of the present 
day. Many instances of longevity occur in this 
place. There is a man one hundred and ten years 
old, who is in perfect health, and labors daily. The 
images in the Russian houses, which I should take for 
a kind of household gods, are very expensive. The 
principal ones have a great deal of silver lavished 
on them. To furnish out a house properly with 
these Dii Minor es, would cost a large sum. When 
burnt out, as I have witnessed several times, the 
people have appeared more anxious for these, than 
for anything else. The images form almost the 
whole decoration of the churches, and those melted 
in one of them just burnt down, are estimated to 
have been worth at least thirty thousand roubles. 
The warm bath is used by the peasantry here early 
in life, from which it is common for them to plunge 



winter of 1820-21. "The weather proved exceedingly cold in 
January and February, but never so severe as to prevent our walks, 
except during those times when the wind was high ; it then be- 
came insupportable out of doors, and we were obliged to remain at 
home. Forty degrees of frost of Fahrenheit never appear to af- 
fect us in calm weather, so much as ten or fifteen during the time 
of a breeze. Forty-three of Reaumur, or seventy-seven of Fah- 
renheit, have been repeatedly known. I will, also, add my testi- 
mony from experiment to the extent of forty -two. I have also 
seen the minute book of a gentleman at Yakutsk, where forty- 
seven of Reaumur were registered, equal to eighty-four of Fahren- 
heit" 

By various experiments it has been proved, that mercury con- 
geals at thirty-two degrees below zero of Reaumur's scale, and 
forty of Fahrenheit's. 



248 LIFE 0F J0HN LEDYARD. 

into the river, and if there happens to be new fallen 
snow, they come naked frOm the bath and wallow 
therein. Dances are accompanied, or rather per- 
formed, by the same odd twisting and writhing of the 
hips, as at Otaheite. 

" Dogs are here esteemed nearly in the same de- 
gree, that horses are in England ; for besides answer- 
ing the same purpose in travelling, they aid the 
people in the chase, and, after toiling for them the 
whole day, become their safeguard at night. Indeed 
they command the greatest attention. There are 
dog-farriers to attend them in sickness, who are no 
despicable rivals in art, at least in pretension, to the 
horse-doctors of civilized Europe. Dogs also com- 
mand a high price. What they call a leading dog 
of prime character will sell for three or four hundred 
roubles. 

" Every body in Yakutsk has two kinds of win- 
dows, the one for summer, and the other for winter. 
Those for the latter season are of many different 
forms and materials ; but all are so covered with ice 
on the inside, that they are not transparent, and are 
so far useless. You can see nothing without, not 
even the body of the sun at noon. Ice is most com- 
monly used for windows in winter, and talc in sum- 
mer. These afford a gloomy kind of light within, 
that serves for ordinary purposes. 

! " The Russ dress in this region is Asiatic ; long, 
loose, and of the mantle kind, covering almost every 
part of the body. It is a dress not originally calcu- 
lated for the latitude they inhabit. Within doors the 
Russian is Asiatic ; without, European. The Em- 
press gives three ranks to officers that come into 
Siberia, and serve six years ; two while out from 
Petersburg, and one on their return. It has two 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 349 

important effects, one to civilize Siberia, and the 
other to prostitute rank. I have before my eyes 
the most consummate scoundrels in the universe, ot 
a rank that in any civilized country would be a 
signal of the best virtues of the heart and the head, 
or at least cf common honesty and common decen- 
cy. The succession of these characters is every six 
years. 

" So strong is the propensity of the Russians to 
jealousy, that they are guilty of the lowest offences 
on that account. The observation may appear trivi- 
al, but an ordinary Russian will be displeased, if one 
even endeavours to gain the good will of his dog. I 
affronted the commandant of this town very highly, 
by permitting his dog to walk with me one after- 
noon. He expostulated with me very seriously about 
it. This is not the only instance. I live with a 
young Russian officer, with whom I came from Ir- 
kutsk. No circumstance has ever interrupted the 
harmony between us, but his dogs. They have done 
it twice. A pretty little puppy he has, came to me 
one day, and jumped upon my knee. I patted his 
head, and gave him some bread. The man flew at 
the dog in the utmost rage, and gave him a blow, 
which broke his leg. The lesson I gave him on the 
occasion has almost cured him, for I bid him beware 
how he disturbed my peace a third time by this ras- 
cally passion. 

" I have observed from Petersburg to this place, 
that the Russians in general have few moral virtues. 
The bulk of the people are almost without any. 
The laws of the country are mostly penal laws ; but 
all laws of this kind are little else than negative in- 
structers. They inform the people what they shall 
not do, and affix the penalty to the transgression ; 



250 LIFE 0F J0HN LEDYARD. 

but they do not inform people what they ought to do, 
and affix the reward to virtue. Untaught in the 
sublime of morality, the Russian has not that glori- 
ous basis on which to exalt his nature. This, in 
some countries, is made the business of religion ; 
and, in others, of the civil laws. In this unfortunate 
country, it is the business of neither civil nor eccle- 
siastical concernment. A citizen here fulfils his 
duty to the laws, if, like a base Asiatic, he licks the 
feet of his superior in rank ; and his duty to his 
God, if he fills his house with a set of ill looking 
brass and silver saints, and worships them. It is for 
these reasons, that the peasantry in particular are 
the most unprincipled in Christendom. I have look- 
ed for certain virtues of the heart, that are called 
natural. I find them not in the most obscure villages 
of the empire. On the contrary, I find the rankest 
vices to abound there, as much as in the capital 
itself." 

A few isolated facts will now be added, which 
he collected chiefly from the information of others, 
but. which he deemed worthy of a place in his jour- 
nal. 

" The Tongusians are tattooed. The Samoiedes 
have the double-headed paddle. They fish with nets 
under the ice. The Buretti have the Mahometan 
lock of hair. The Kuriles are tattooed. A journal 
of a Russian officer says they are very hairy. They 
traffic with the Japanese in feathers and fish. The 
islands have little vegetation. The people are re- 
served in conversation ; they are comely ; have their 
materials for boat and house building from the con- 
tinent, or from the Japanese. They are very wild, 
and receive strangers with the most threatening and 
formal appearance, but afterwards they are kind and 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 251 

hospitable. The coast of the Frozen Ocean is full 
of trees and driftwood for five versts out. It is re- 
marked by the Russians, that since their knowledge 
of those regions the land has increased towards the 
sea, and driven it northwards, a circumstance attrib- 
utable perhaps to the large rivers, that empty them- 
selves there. — Informed that the custom of staining 
the nails of the fingers of a scarlet color, is com- 
mon near the Caspian and Black seas. Isaw one 
instance of it in the neighbourhood of Kazan. It is 
likewise a custom among the Cochin-Chinese. I 
saw it at the island of Perlo Condor. The custom 
of calling John the son of John, Alexander the son 
of Alexander, prevails among the Russians." 

The preceding selections embrace nearly all that 
is contained in the journal, under the dates of his 
residence at Yakutsk, except the celebrated eulogy 
on women, which was likewise written at that place. 
This beautiful and touching tribute to the superiority 
of the female character, is the more to be valued, as 
coming from one whose sphere of observation and 
experience had been such, as to enable him to speak 
with confidence, and whose sincerity cannot be sus- 
pected. It is the simple effusion of a grateful heart, 
recorded in his private journal, not intended for the 
public eye, and obviously written, like the rest of the 
manuscript compositions left behind him, without any 
other design, than to quicken his own recollections, 
or perhaps amuse his intimate friends in a vacant 
hour. This eulogy was first printed, shortly after 
the author's death, in the Transactions of the Afri- 
can Association, in which it was inserted by Mr 
Beaufoy, secretary to that body, who then had the 
Siberian journal in his possession. It has often been 
reprinted, and universally admired, not, more for the 



252 LIFE 0F JOHN LEDYARD. 

sentiments it contains, and the genuine feeling that 
pervades it, than for its terse and appropriate lan- 
guage. The original has been altered in some of 
the transcripts. It is here introduced as found in the 
journal. 

" I have observed among all nations, that the 
women ornament themselves more than the men ; 
that, wherever found, they are the same kind, civil, 
obliging, humane, tender beings ; that they are ever 
inclined to be gay and cheerful, timorous and mod- 
est. They do not hesitate, like man, to perform a 
hospitable or generous action ; not haughty, nor ar- 
rogant, nor supercilious, but full of courtesy and fond 
of society 5 industrious, economical, ingenuous; more 
liable in general to err than man, but in general, 
also, more virtuous, and performing more good ac- 
tions than he. I never addressed myself in the 
language of decency and friendship to a woman, 
whether civilized or savage, without receiving a de- 
cent and friendly answer. With man it has often 
been otherwise. In wandering over the barren 
plains of inhospitable Denmark, through honest 
Sweden, frozen Lapland, rude and churlish Finland, 
unprincipled Russia, and the wide spread regions of 
the wandering Tartar, if hungry, dry, cold, wet, or 
sick, woman has ever been friendly to me, and uni- 
formly so ; and to add to this virtue, so worthy of 
the appellation of benevolence, these actions have 
been performed in so free and so kind a manner, 
that, if I was dry, I drank the sweet draught, and, 
if hungry, ate the coarse morsel, with a double rel- 
ish." 

By these specimens of his journal, we may judge 
how the traveller employed himself at Yakutsk, dur- 
ing the weary days of his compulsory residence 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 253 

there. He had not been quite two months in this 
town, when Captain Billings arrived from his expe- 
dition to the river Kolyma, and the Frozen Ocean. 
An intimate acquaintance had formerly subsisted be- 
tween Ledyard and Billings. The latter had been 
an assistant to the astronomer Bayly, during the 
whole of Cook's last voyage. He was now em- 
ployed under the orders of the Empress of Russia, 
on a mission for exploring the northeastern regions 
of her territories, and for prosecuting discoveries in 
geography and natural science. Billings was much 
surprised at meeting his old acquaintance in the 
heart of Siberia, not having heard from him since 
their separation at the close of the voyage. Mean- 
time he had entered the Russian service, and by a 
concurrence of favorable circumstances, not easy to 
be accounted for, had obtained the command of a 
very important expedition. Ledyard was no doubt 
glad to meet a person, in this rude quarter of the 
world, who could speak his own language, and who 
had some recollections in common with himself; but, 
in other respects, the companionship was not such, 
as to promote his advantage, or his enjoyment. Bil- 
lings gave no proof, that he was competent to the 
high trust reposed in him by the Russian govern- 
ment, or that he possessed qualities suited to win the 
esteem of his associates. 

A few remarks, relating to the purposes of the 
expedition just alluded to, may very well be introdu- 
ced in this place, as in some of its parts it was more 
or less in unison with the designs of the American 
traveller. Russian enterprise had by no means been 
backward in pushing discoveries to the east and 
north, even at a comparatively early period. About 
the middle of the seventeenth century, Deschneff 
22 



254 LIF E OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

and his companions passed down the Kolyma, sailed 
along the coast of the Tchuktchi country in the Icy 
Sea, thence discovered a route by land from this 
coast to Anadir. Other adventures were undertaken, 
and discoveries made at successive periods, by 
Staduchin, Markoff, Willegin, and Amossoff. But 
the journeys and voyages of these persons had ex- 
tended only to the Tchuktchi territory, Anadir, 
Kamtschatka, the Kurile Islands, and to the neigh- 
bouring seas. Neither the Strait, which separates 
Asia from America, nor any part of the American 
coast on the northwest, nor the Aleutian Islands, had 
been visited before the year 1728, when Captain 
Bering made his voyage of discovery. This voy- 
age was planned by Peter the Great, who wrote out 
with his own hand the instructions for the command- 
er. He died before they were put in execution, 
but the Empress, who succeeded him, carried the 
original design into effect. Captain Bering was 
despatched to Kamtschatka, with orders to construct 
two vessels there, and to sail in them for the purpose 
of examining the coast towards the east and north, 
and of ascertaining, if possible, whether Asia and 
America were separated by the ocean. In the year 
abovementioned he made this voyage, and discover- 
ed the strait, to which his name has been given. He 
kept so close to the Asiatic shore, that he did not see 
the American coast ; but he sailed northward till, on 
doubling a cape, he saw an open sea before him, 
which presented a boundless horizon to the north 
and west, and convinced him that the two continents 
nowhere came in contact with each other. The sea- 
son was far advanced, and he returned t© the river 
of Kamtschatka, where he wintered. 

The success of this voyage was such, as to en- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 255 

courage the government to undertake others. A 
plan was formed for navigating the whole northern 
coast of Russia, from Archangel to Kamtschatka. 
Several expeditions were fitted out for this purpose 
from Archangel, the mouths of the Ob, Yenissey, 
Lena, and Kolyma, and after incredible sufferings 
by the officers and men engaged in them, and the 
loss of a great many lives in those terrific regions of 
cold and privation, all further attempts were aban- 
doned. Some new portions of the coast were ex- 
amined, but much remained unexplored, and has 
continued so to this day. No passage has been ef- 
fected entirely round the north coast of Asia, any 
more than round that of America. 

Twelve years after his first discovery, Bering 
made another voyage, fell in with the Aleutian Isl- 
ands, explored the American coast for a considerable 
distance, and discovered and named Mount Saint 
Elias. In returning to Kamtschatka at the begin- 
ning of winter, he was driven in distress upon an 
island hear the Asiatic coast, where he and several 
of his men died. The island has since borne his 
name. The remnant of his crew arrived in the 
spring at Kamtschatka. 

From this period the Russians kept up an active 
fur trade, from Okotsk and Kamtschatka, with the 
natives of the Aleutian Islands, but voyages of dis- 
covery ceased for a long time. A tribute in furs 
was collected for the Russian government from the 
natives, by the traders who went among them, and 
authentic accounts are related of barbarities prac- 
tised by the latter against the former, in their exac- 
tions of labor in procuring furs, equalling in cruelty 
the servitude of the mitas, inflicted by the Spaniards 
in South America on the Indians, whom they com- 



256 L IFE 0F J0HN LEDYARD. 

pelled to work in the mines. The party of traders, 
whom Ledyard visited at Onalaska, however, can- 
not be brought under this imputation in its full ex- 
tent, for he describes them as kind to the natives, 
whom he saw with them. It is to be considered, 
nevertheless, that the cruelties were principally suf- 
fered by those, who were sent abroad to hunt and 
trap, and made to endure cold, and hunger, and 
all the severities of the climate. These sufferers, 
would not come under the traveller's observation, in 
the short time that he remained with the traders at 
Onalaska. 

Such was the state of the Russian fur trade on the 
American coast from the date of Bering's last dis- 
coveries, till that of Cook's voyage to the northern 
polar seas, a period of about forty years. During 
that space the government appears to have paid no 
attention to the subject, except to take care that its 
agents at Okotsk and Kamtschatka gathered tribute 
from the islands. But when Cook's last voyage 
began to make a noise in Europe, and his discoveries 
on the Northwest Coast of America and in the 
adjoining seas to be known, the sagacious Catherine 
was quick to perceive, that her interests were in- 
volved in the affair, and that it was time for her to 
look to these remote and hitherto neglected parts of 
her dominions. In short, an expedition was planned 
on a large and liberal scale, and it was resolved, 
that, in preparing for it, nothing should be spared, 
which was necessary to combine in it all possible 
facilities for prosecuting discoveries, both by land 
and by sea. 

Professor Pallas, who was a favorite with the 
Empress, and who had travelled in Siberia under 
her patronage, was particularly instrumental in sug- 






LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 257 

gesting and maturing this plan. The choice of a 
commander was an important consideration, and 
this was at last effected wholly through the interest 
of the Professor. Mr Billings, who had recently 
obtained a lieutenancy in the Russian service, had 
found means to insinuate himself into the favor of 
Pallas, and to impress him with a high opinion of 
his understanding and knowledge ; in which he 
discovered, however, after it was too late, that he 
was unfortunately mistaken. The circumstance of 
this lieutenant having been with Cook, in the regions 
that were to be explored, filling a station which 
gave him some pretensions to science, was thought 
to be a strong recommendation ; and so it would 
have been, if in more important respects he had 
possessed the qualities of a commander, and a man 
of enterprise. In these he was singularly deficient ; 
as was fully demonstrated in the sequel of the expe- 
dition. He was appointed to the command, and left 
Petersburg for Siberia in October, 1785, about 
eighteen months before Ledyard arrived in the Rus- 
sian capital. 

The instructions to Billings were so well drawn 
up, that they deserve a passing notice. They were 
prepared on the basis of those, which had been 
written by Peter the Great for Captain Bering. 
Every provision was made for the advancement of 
science and geographical knowledge, as well as for 
extending the influence of the Russian government 
in remote and unknown parts. The great specific 
objects were, to determine the latitude and longitude 
of the mouth of the river Kolyma, and the line of 
coast from that point to the East Cape in Bering's 
Strait; the construction of an exact chart of the 
Eastern Ocean, and the islands between Asia and 
22* 



258 LIFE 0F J0HN LEDYARD, 

America ; and the attainment of all such knowledge 
of those regions as might serve to illustrate the reign 
of her Imperial Majesty, by improving the condition 
and promoting the happiness of the natives inhabit- 
ing those distant lands, and by collecting and diffus- 
ing new truths of science, for the general benefit of 
mankind. 

The instructions for scientific researches were 
minute, perspicuous, and explicit. Professor Pallas 
was much consulted in preparing them. And, in- 
deed, the separate articles for the naturalist, drawn 
up with admirable precision and method, were en- 
tirely from his pen, and issued with his signature. 
Observations in geography and meteorology, exact 
delineations of charts, and notes of electrical phe- 
nomena, variations of the needle, and of barometri- 
cal and thermometrical changes, were expressly 
required. The various departments of the animal, 
vegetable, and mineral kingdoms were also particu- 
larized, and the utmost care enjoined in collecting 
specimens, and forwarding them to Petersburg. 
Drawings were to be made of curious and extraor- 
dinary objects. The manners, disposition, and oc- 
cupations of the natives were to be described, and 
also their modes of living, government, religions, 
their dresses, arms, and manufactures. Moreover, 
vocabularies of their languages were ordered to be 
made, according to a model previously furnished. 
The commander, the naturalist, and all the principal 
officers, were directed to keep journals for the future 
inspection of the Admiralty. 

Another feature in these instructions deserves to 
be mentioned. In case any savage tribes should be 
discovered, who had not been acquainted with civil- 
ized people, it was positively ordered, that they 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 359 

should be treated with kindness, and that the best 
means should be used to conciliate their good opin- 
ion. They were never to be approached in a hostile 
way, unless such a step should appear absolutely 
necessary for self-defence. On this point the in- 
structions are as full and definite as on others, and 
breathe a spirit of humanity, which, if it had been 
uniformly felt and acted upon by discoverers, would 
have prevented innumerable scenes of bloodshed and 
misery, which have marked the early intercourse 
between civilized and savage men. 

Captain Billings was allowed to select his own 
officers and privates, and, as an encouragement to 
all the persons engaged, much higher pay was grant- 
ed, than was usual in the regular service, with the 
promise of additional rewards. The officers were 
to be promoted as the enterprise advanced, and par- 
ticularly at its conclusion. The governor general of 
Irkutsk was ordered to render all needful assistance, 
and unite his best efforts with those of the com- 
mander to execute the designs of the Empress. 
No expedition was ever more liberally provided, and 
none ever commenced under better auspices. 

When Ledyard met Billings at Yakutsk, he had 
been more than two years absent from Petersburg, 
and had spent the preceding season at the mouth of 
the river Kolyma, attempting to pass along the coast 
in boats constructed for the purpose. The ice 
threatened him, and he accomplished nothing, 
though his lieutenant was extremely desirous to push 
forward, at a time when, to all but the commander, 
there seemed a prospect of success. He had now 
returned, with the intention of going to Irkutsk, 
and there superintending the transportation of vari- 
ous articles to Okotsk, where they were wanted for. 



260 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

preparing the vessels, in which he expected to make 
a voyage to the American coast in the following 
summer. This was the opportunity, which Ledyard 
hoped to embrace for securing his passage from one 
continent to the other. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 261 



CHAPTER XII. 

Ledyard departs from Yakutsk, and returns to Irkutsk up the Lena 
on the ice. — Is seized by order of the Empress, and hurried off 
in the charge of two guards. — Returns through Siberia to Kazan. 
His remarks on the peculiarity of his fate. — Further observations 
on the Tartars. — No good account of them has ever been writ- 
ten. — Passes Moscow and arrives in Poland. — Left by his 
guards, with an injunction never to appear again in Russia. — 
Health much impaired by his sufferings. — Proceeds to Konigs- 
berg, and thence to London. — Inquiry into the motives of the 
Empress for her cruel treatment of him. — Her pretences of 
humanity not to be credited. — Her declaration to Count Segur 
on the subject. — Dr Clarke's explanation incorrect. — The true 
cause was the jealousy of the Russian American Fur Company, 
by whose influence his recall was procured from the Empress. — 
Lafayette's remark on her conduct in this particular. 

That we may not anticipate events, we will again 
take up our traveller in Yakutsk, where we left him 
with Captain Billings, then just returned from the 
Kolyma, near the end of November. Here they 
lived together about five weeks. Meantime Billings 
was making preparation for his journey to Irkutsk, 
and invited Ledyard to accompany him thither. 
This invitation he readily accepted, since it was im- 
possible for him to proceed to Okotsk before spring ; 
nor indeed would any object be gained by such a 
journey, till Captain Billings himself should return to 
that place, and his vessels be got in readiness, for no 
chance of a passage was likely to offer at an earlier 
date. Accordingly he joined Captain Billings's 
party, which left Yakutsk on the twenty-ninth of 
December, and travelled in sledges up the river Lena 
on the ice. With such speed did they move forward 
by this mode of conveyance, that they reached Ir- 
kutsk in seventeen days, having passed over a dis- 
tance of fifteen hundred miles. Ledyard's voyage 



262 LIF E OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

down the river in a canoe had taken up twenty-two 
days. 

Nothing is found recorded in his journal, during 
this second visit to Irkutsk. In Sauer's account of 
Billings's expedition, the fate which overtook him 
there is made known to us, and the manner in which 
he submitted to it. 

" In the evening of the twenty-fourth of Febru- 
ary," says Sauer, " while I was playing at cards 
with the brigadier and some company of his, a 
secretary belonging to one of the courts of justice 
came in, and told us with great concern, that the 
governor general had received positive orders from 
the Empress, immediately to send one of the expe- 
dition, an Englishman, under guard to the private 
Inquisition at Moscow, but that he did not know the 
name of the person, and that Captain Billings was 
with a private party at the governor general's. Now, 
as Ledyard and I were the only Englishmen here, 
I could not help smiling at the news, when two 
hussars came into the room, and told me, that the 
commandant wished to speak to me immediately. 
The consternation into which the visiters were 
thrown is not to be described. I assured them, that 
it must be a mistake, and went with the guards to 
the commandant. 

" There I found Mr Ledyard under arrest. He 
told me, that he had sent to Captain Billings, but he 
would not come to him. He then began to explain 
his situation, and said he was taken up as a French 
spy, whereas Captain Billings could prove the con- 
trary, but he supposed that he knew nothing of the 
matter, and requested that I would inform him. I 
did so, but the Captain assured me, that it was an 
absolute order from the Empress, and that he could 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 263 

not help him. He, however, sent him a few 
roubles, and gave him a pelisse j and I procured 
him his linen quite wet from the wash-tub. Ledyard 
took a friendly leave of me, desired his remem- 
brance to his friends, and with astonishing compo- 
sure leaped into the kibitka, and drove off, with two 
guards, one on each side. 1 wished to travel with 
him a little way, but was not permitted. I there- 
fore returned to my company, and explained the 
matter to them ; but though this eased their minds 
with regard to my fate, it did not restore their har- 
mony." * 

One word more only needs be added respecting 
Billings. He went to Okotsk in the summer, made 
a voyage to the Aleutian Islands, and thence to Ber- 
ing's Strait. From the bay of St Lawrence he 
passed across the Tchuktchi country to the river 
Kolyma by land, whence he proceeded to Yakutsk, 
and at length returned to Petersburg, after an ab- 
sence of seven or eight years. No evidence exists, 
that his labors were of any service to Russia or to 
the world, either in the field of discovery, or the de- 
partments of science. Sauer's book has made his 
incompetency notorious. The misfortune was, that 
this should have been found out so late. Captain 
Burney, who was well acquainted with Billings while 
on Cook's voyage, observes, in alluding to Ledyard's 
arrest, " If the Empress had understood the char- 
acters of the two men, the commander of the ex- 
pedition would probably have been ordered to 
Moscow, and Ledyard, instead of being denied en- 



* See Sauer's Account of a Geographical and Astronomical Ex- 
pedition to the Northern Parts of Russia, &c. p. 100. 



264 LIF E OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

tertainment in her service, have been appointed to 
supply his place."* 

Being now a prisoner, Ledyard was under the 
entire control of his two guards, who conducted him, 
with all the speed with which horses and sledges 
could convey them, towards Moscow, exposed to 
the extreme rigors of a Siberian winter. In such a 
situation, it cannot be presumed, that he would have 
either the heart or leisure to write in his journal. A 
few particulars only are recorded, and to these a 
place will now be given. Dates are rarely noted. 
The following was apparently written soon after he 
left Irkutsk. 

" My ardent hopes are once more blasted, — the 
almost half accomplished wish. What secret machi- 
nations have been at work ? What motive ? But so 
it suits her royal Majesty of all the Russias, and 
she has nothing but her pleasure to consult ; she has 
no nation's resentment to apprehend, for I am the 
minister of no state, no monarch. I travel under 
the common flag of humanity, commissioned by my- 
self to serve the world at large ; and so the poor, 
the unprotected wanderer must go where sovereign 
will ordains ; if to death, why then my journeying 
will be over sooner, and rather differently from what 
I contemplated ; >. if otherwise, why then the royal 
dame has taken me much out of my way. But I 
may pursue another route. The rest of the world 
lies uninterdicted. Though born in the freest of the 
civilized countries, yet, in the present state of priva- 
tion, I have a more exquisite sense of the amiable, 
the immortal nature of liberty, than I ever had be- 



* Bumey's Chronological History of the Northeastern Voyages 
of Discovery, p. 279. 



LIFE OF JOHN LED YARD. 265 

fore. It would be excellently qualifying, if every 
man who is called to preside over the liberties of a 
people, should once — it would be enough — actually 
be deprived of his liberty unjustly. He would be 
avaricious of it, more than of any other earthly 
possession. I could love a country and its inhabit- 
ants, if it were a country of freedom. There are 
two kinds of people I could anathematize, with a 
better weapon than St Peter's ; those who dare de- 
prive others of their liberty, and those who suffer 
others to do it." 

Again he writes, some days after the above, hav- 
ing escaped from Siberia ; 

" I am now at Kazan ; it is nine months since I 
left this place on my tour eastward, and I am nine 
times more fully satisfied, than I was before, of some 
circumstances mentioned in my diary in June last. 
As I was fond of the subjects I have been in pur- 
suit of, I was apprehensive that I might have been 
rash and premature in some of my opinions, but I 
certainly have not been. I am now fully convinced, 
that the difference of color in man is solely the ef- 
fect of natural causes, and that a mixture by inter- 
marriage and habits would in time make the species 
in this respect uniform. I have never extended my 
opinion, and do not now, to the Negroes ; but should 
I live to visit them, I shall expect to find the same 
data, leading to the same conclusion, namely, that 
they are like the other two classes of man, which 
I call by the general terms of white people and In- 
dians. There are many reasons, that rise naturally 
from the observations on my present voyage, which 
induce me to think so, yet I still wish to have better. 
I expect, however, the result will be, that I shall find 
the same causes existing in Africa to render the 
23 



266 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

Negro blacker than the Indian, as in Asia to render 
the Indian darker than the European. 

" With respect to the national, or genealogical 
connexion, which the remarkable affinity of person 
and manners bespeaks between the Indians on this, 
and on the American continent, I declare my opin- 
ion to be, without the least scruple, and with the 
most absolute conviction, that the Indians on the one 
and on the other are the same people. As to the 
origin and history of the great Tartar Nation, little 
has been essayed ; very little is known even of the 
extent of their own country. Albugassi, himself a 
noble Tartar, has said much the most and best of 
their origin, and something of their extent ; but very 
unsatisfactorily as to this latter, for in truth he knew 
but little about it. Like a soldier, he has written a 
kind of muster-roll of his countrymen. I do not 
remember any thing like philosophical research 
in his history, though I read him with avidity. 
Among the voyagers in this country, even the most 
modern, I have, instead of more, still less informa- 
tion. A few vocabularies to lead astray those, who 
would wish to find real knowledge, and an account 
of a few customs, without any remarks on them, 
constitute nearly the amount of the whole. There 
is, indeed, very little of value said about this great 
people by any writers. The late contest about the 
contiguity, or junction, of Asia and America, has 
accidentally struck out a few observations, and one 
now and then finds something philosophically said 
of them, but very unphilosophically placed among 
quadrupeds, fish, fowls, plants, minerals, and fossils. 
When the history of Asia, and I add of America, 
because there is an intimate connexion between 
them, shall be as well known as that of Europe, it 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 267 

will be found, that those, who have Written the histo- 
ry of man, have begun at the wrong end." 

What passed at the private Inquisition of Moscow, 
when Ledyard and his guards arrived in that city, 
there is no record to explain. Since nothing is said 
of the matter, it is probable, that, if he was taken 
at all before that body, no specific charges were 
substantiated, or even preferred, as in truth none 
could exist. The idea of a French spy in Siberia 
was an absurdity too gross, to be formally urged as 
a reason for his arrest, although this had been given 
out at Irkutsk. What was there in Siberia, either 
for a Frenchman, or a native of any other country 
to spy ? Was the Empress afraid, that the French 
were plotting a crusade into those frozen and sterile 
regions, to rescue her miserable exiles, who were 
suffering there the penalties of their crimes, or the 
effects of imperial indignation for their projects of 
ambition and aggrandizement in Petersburg ? It was 
not likely that France, or any other nation, would 
covet the control of such subjects, or of such a 
land. This pretence of a French spy originated at 
Irkutsk, where it was convenient that some false re- 
port should be circulated respecting the cause of his 
arrest, as will shortly be made manifest. Ledyard 
again writes, 

" I am now two hundred and twenty versts from 
Moscow, on the road to Poland. Thank Heaven, 
petticoats appear, and the glimmerings of other fea- 
tures. Women are the sure harbingers of an altera- 
tion in manners, in approaching a country where 
their influence is felt. But wampum, or, if you will, 
beads, tassels, rings, fringes, and eastern gewgaws, 
prevail as much here as in Siberia. 

" I am at the city of Neeshna, in a vile, dark, 



268 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

dirty, gloomy, damp room ; it is called quarters, 
but it is a miserable prison. The soldiers, who 
guard me, are doubly watchful over me when in a 
town, though at no time properly so, through their 
consummate indolence and ignorance. Every day 
I have it in my power to escape them, but, though 
treated like a felon, I will not appear like one by 
flight. I was very ill yesterday ; I am emaciated ; 
it is more than twenty days since I have eat any- 
thing, that may be called food, and during that time 
have been dragged along from day to day in some 
wretched open kibitka. Thus am I treated in all 
respects (except that I am obliged to support myself 
with my own money) like a convict, and presented 
by my snuff-box of a sergeant as a raree-show, at 
every town through which we pass. Were I charg- 
ed, or chargeable, with any injury done or thought 
of, either to this or any other country, it might not 
make me contented, indeed, yet, I suppose, it would 
make me resigned. But to be arrested in my trav- 
els at the last stage but one, in those dominions 
where the severe laws of the climate unhappily de- 
tained me, which, however, I should have braved, 
had it not been for the restraining courtesy of the 
commandant at Yakutsk ; to be seized, imprisoned, 
and transported in this dark and silent manner, 
without cause, or accusation, except what appears 
in the mysterious wisdom depicted in the face of 
my sergeant, and of course without even a guess 
as to my destination ; treated, in short, like a sub- 
ject of — this country ; — under such circumstances, 
resignation would be a crime against my dear native 
land." 

Here the Siberian journal abruptly comes to a 
close, and little is known of what befell him on his 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 269 

way to England, from the frontiers of Poland. In 
a letter to a friend written after his arrival in London, 
he touches again upon the subject, and adds a few 
particulars, which may with propriety be inserted in 
the present connexion. 

" I had penetrated," he says, " through Europe 
and Asia, almost to the Pacific Ocean, but, in the 
midst of my career, was arrested a prisoner to the 
Empress of Russia, by an express sent after me for 
that purpose. I passed under a guard part of last 
winter and spring ; was banished the empire, and 
conveyed to the frontiers of Poland, six thousand 
versts from the place where I was arrested, and this 
journey was performed in six weeks. Cruelties and 
hardships are tales I leave untold. I was disappoint- 
ed in the pursuit of an object, on which my future 
fortune entirely depended. I know not how I pass- 
ed through the kingdoms of Poland and Prussia, or 
from thence to London, where I arrived in the be- 
ginning of May, disappointed, ragged, penniless ; 
and yet so accustomed am I to such things, that I 
declare my heart was whole. My health for the first 
time had suffered from my confinement, and the 
amazing rapidity with which I had been carried 
through the illimitable wilds of Tartary and Russia. 
But my liberty regained, and a few days' rest among 
the beautiful daughters of Israel in Poland, reestab- 
lished it, and I am now in as full bloom and vigor, 
as thirty-seven years will afford any man. Jarvis 
says I look much older than when he saw me three 
summers ago at Paris, which I can readily believe. 
An American face does not wear well, like an Ameri- 
can heart" 

When the soldiers, who were his guards, had ar- 
rived with him in Poland, they gave him to under- 
23* 



270 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

stand that he might go where he pleased, but if he 
returned again to the dominions of the Empress, he 
would certainly be hanged. Having no longer any 
motive for making such an experiment, he took the 
shortest route to Konigsberg. Here he was in a 
destitute situation, without friends or means, his 
hopes blasted, and his health enfeebled. In this 
state of despondency and suffering, he bethought 
himself again of the benevolence of Sir Joseph 
Banks, which had on more occasions than one ad- 
ministered relief to him, and served as a balm to his 
wounded spirit. He was lucky enough to dispose 
of a draft for five guineas on his old benefactor, and 
by this expedient was enabled to pursue his journey 
to London, where he arrived after an absence of 
one year and five months, and where he was re- 
ceived with much cordiality by Sir Joseph Banks 
and his other friends. 

It remains to inquire a little further into the rea- 
sons, which induced the Empress to recall him by a 
mandate so positive, after she had given him a royal 
passport for proceeding unmolested to Kamtschat- 
ka. Various conjectures, as to her motives, have 
existed, but the tale of the French spy has been the 
one most generally received, probably because it was 
credited by Sauer, who was on the spot at the 
time he was seized. On that topic enough has been 
said. 

The avowed pretence of the Empress has been 
ascertained, from the authority of Count Segur, who 
was then, as heretofore stated, ambassador from 
France to the court of Petersburg, and was instru- 
mental in procuring Ledyard's passport. In August, 
1823, he wrote the following note to Lafayette, in 
reply to an inquiry on the subject. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 271 

" I have no longer any letters in my possession," 
says Count Segur, " relative to the celebrated trav- 
eller, Mr Ledyard. I remember only that in com-- 
pliance with your request, I furnished him with the 
best recommendations at the court of Russia. He 
was at first very well received ; but the Empress, who 
spoke to me on the subject herself, observed that 
she would not render herself guilty of the death of 
this courageous American, by furthering a journey 
so fraught with danger, as that he proposed to un- 
dertake alone, across the unknown and savage re- 
gions of Northwestern America. She consequently 
issued her prohibition. Possibly this pretext of hu- 
manity, advanced by Catherine, only disguised her 
unwillingness to have the new possessions of Russia, 
on the western coast of America, seen by an en- 
lightened citizen of the United States. The above, 
however, were the reasons she advanced to me." 

Few will doubt, probably, that the closing con- 
jecture of Count Segur is much more plausible, 
than the alleged humanity of the Empress. It is 
clothing this virtue in the royal breast with an air a 
little too romantic, to suppose that she was prompted 
by such a motive to send an express four thousand 
miles, with an order to arrest and preserve from his 
own temerity and self-devotedness an individual, in 
whose personal safety she could not possibly feel 
any other interest, than what the sovereign of all the 
Russias would naturally extend to the whole human 
family. And, moreover, this plea of humanity 
sounds strangely enough, when contrasted with the 
barbarous manner, in which Ledyard was transport- 
ed across the frightful deserts of her Imperial Ma- 
jesty's domains. Such evidences of tenderhearted- 
ness he would very gladly have dispensed with, and 



272 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

taken in exchange for them any treatment he might 
receive from the savages of Northwestern America. 
This pretence of humanity, therefore, has no better 
foundation than the story of the French spy. 

Another explanation is afforded in Dr Clarke's 
Travels in Russia, who had the account from Profes- 
sor Pallas himself. After relating an anecdote, re- 
specting the manner in which Billings obtained his 
appointment, Dr Clarke adds ; 

" That the expedition might have been confided to 
better hands, the public have been since informed by 
the secretary Sauer. This, Professor Pallas lament- 
ed to have discovered, when it was too late. But 
the loss sustained by any incapacity in the persons 
employed to conduct the expedition, is not equal to 
that which the public suffered by the sudden recall 
of the unfortunate Ledyard. This, it is said, would 
never have happened, but through the jealousy of his 
own countrymen, whom he chanced to encounter as 
he was upon the point of quitting the eastern conti- 
nent for America, and who caused the information to 
be sent to Petersburg, which occasioned the order 
for his arrest." * 

This account of the affair labors under one serious 
difficulty, which is, that Ledyard did not meet a 
single countryman of his own in Siberia. It could 
only be by a vague rumor, originally intended to de- 
ceive, that Professor Pallas was led into such a mis- 
take. As Billings and Sauer were Englishmen, and 
spoke the same language as Ledyard, these persons 
may have been alluded to ; yet no proof exists of 
their hostility to him, or that they could have any rea- 
sons for thwarting his designs. 

* Clarke's Travels in Russia, Chap. II. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 273 

Since all these explanations of the matter are 
fallacious, we must look for other causes, and these, 
in my opinion, have been partly anticipated in the 
remarks already made on the conduct of the com- 
mandant at Yakutsk. From all the circumstances, 
which have come to my knowledge in the course of 
this investigation, I am convinced, that a plan was 
concerted at Irkutsk to send him back, very soon 
after his arrival in that place. Irkutsk was the resi- 
dence of the governor general of all the eastern 
parts of Siberia, and of the principal persons en- 
gaged in the fur trade at the Aleutian Islands. Two 
years before this period, the Russian American 
Company had been formed, for the express purpose 
of establishing a regular commercial intercourse with 
the natives of the islands and of the American 
coast. Operations were already commenced by oc- 
cupying new posts, erecting factories, building forti- 
fications to protect them, and making other needful 
provisions to secure a complete monopoly of the 
trade. 

Now the headquarters of this company were at 
Irkutsk, and it could not have escaped the sagacity 
of its conductors, that a foreigner, visiting their sta- 
tions at the islands, would make discoveries, which 
might be published to their disadvantage, both in re- 
gard to the resources of traffic, and to the cruel 
manner in which the traders habitually treated the 
natives, in extorting from them the fruits of their 
severe and incessant labors. To obviate such a 
consequence, it was necessary to cut short the trav- 
eller's career, before he had penetrated to the east- 
ern shores of Asia. In effecting this point, some 
management was necessary, as he had a passport 
from the Empress, with a positive order to the gov- 



274 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

ernor general to aid him on his way. This order 
could not be countermanded, nor the passport of the 
Empress treated with disrespect, till intelligence 
could be sent to Petersburg, and influence there 
used with the Empress to procure the annulment of 
her grant of protection, and Ledyard's immediate 
recall. Time was requisite to bring this scheme to 
an issue, and the first thing to be done, in the train of 
manoeuvres, was to throw obstacles in his path, and 
retard his progress. This was begun in good ear- 
nest at Irkutsk, where he was detained several days 
longer than he desired, waiting, as he was told, for 
the post. 

The manner in which he was received by the 
commandant of Yakutsk has already been stated. 
The extraordinary concern, which the commandant 
professed to feel for his welfare, the arguments he 
used to dissuade him from going to Okotsk at that 
inclement season, and his returning Jacobi's letter 
open, are all reasons for strong suspicions. And 
these reasons are confirmed, when it is known, that 
the journey to Okotsk was frequently undertaken in 
the winter. More than a month after Ledyard arri- 
ved in Yakutsk, Captain Billings returned from the 
Kolyma, which was at least quite as difficult a jour- 
ney ; and the next year, Billings passed from Okotsk 
to Yakut'sk in October and November, precisely the 
same months in which Ledyard wished to perform 
the tour. These facts are enough to prove, that the 
commandant's pretended concern for his health and 
comfort was only a cloak to cover other designs, and 
to render it more than probable, that he had secret 
instructions to cause his delay. This point was 
gained, and the plot farther matured by inducing 
him to go back to Irkutsk with Billings. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 275 

Six months elapsed between the date of his first 
leaving Irkutsk, on his voyage down the Lena, and 
that of his arrest. This afforded ample time to send 
to Petersburg, and receive returns, even through the 
common channel of the post, or mail, which then 
passed with tolerable regularity and expedition from 
the Russian capital to Irkutsk. Thus were all our 
traveller's hopes blasted, and all his noble designs for 
making new discoveries and benefiting mankind 
frustrated by the jealousy and pitiful intrigues of a 
few fur dealers at Irkutsk. The Empress was duped 
by their representations, and she deserted on this 
occasion the judicious policy, by which she was usu- 
ally guided, in whatever pertained to the advance- 
ment of science, or the encouragement of enterprise. 
Well might Lafayette say, as he did, that " her 
conduct in this instance was very illiberal and nar- 
row-minded, and that her measures were particularly 
ungenerous." The conclusion to which I have thus 
been led, in explaining an apparent enigma in Led- 
yard's Siberian adventures, is mainly founded, it is 
true, on circumstantial evidence ; but this evidence 
is so strong, that I know not how it can be resisted. 



276 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Interview with Sir Joseph Banks in London. — Engages to travel 
in Africa under the auspices of the African Association. — Re- 
markable instance of decision of character. — Letter to Dr Led- 
yard, containing miscellaneous particulars respecting his travels 
and circumstances. — Description of his Siberian dresses. — Origin 
and purposes of the African Association. — Ancient and present 
state of Africa. — Benefits of discoveries in that continent. — 
Letter from Ledyard to his mother. — His remarks to Mr Beau- 
foy on his departure for Egypt. — Visits Mr Jefferson and Lafay- 
ette in Paris. — Sails from Marseilles to Alexandria in Egypt. — 
Description of Alexandria, in a letter to Mr Jefferson. — Arrives 
in Cairo. — Description of the city, and of his passage up the 
Nile. 

No sooner was he arrived in London, than he 
called on his worthy patron and friend, Sir Joseph 
Banks, to express his gratitude for the many sub- 
stantial favors received from him. Sir Joseph, after 
questioning him with a lively interest concerning his 
travels, and expressing sympathy for his past mis- 
fortunes, inquired what were his future intentions. 
Ledyard frankly confessed, that he had nothing in 
prospect ; that, after having struggled against a tide 
of difficulties to accomplish an object, which he had 
much at heart, but in pursuing which he had been 
baffled in every attempt, he felt himself at this mo- 
ment in a state of perfect uncertainty, as to the step 
next to be taken ; time and circumstances would 
decide his fortune. What followed will be best re- 
lated in the language of Mr Beaufoy, then secretary 
of the African Association. 

" Sir Joseph Banks, who knew his temper, told 
him, that he believed he could recommend him to 
an adventure almost as perilous as the one from 
which he had returned ; and then communicated to 



i 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 277 

him the wishes of the Association for discovering 
the inland countries of Africa. Ledyard replied, 
that he had always determined to traverse the Con- 
tinent of Africa, as soon as he had explored the 
interior of North America ; and as Sir Joseph had 
offered him a letter of introduction, he came directly 
to the writer of these Memoirs. Before I had learnt 
from the note the name and business of my visitor, 
I was struck with the manliness of his person, the 
breadth of his chest, the openness of his counte- 
nance, and the inquietude of his eye. I spread the 
map of Africa before him, and tracing a line from 
Cairo to Sennar, and from thence westward in the 
latitude and supposed direction of the Niger, I told 
him, that was the route, by which I was anxious that 
Africa might, if possible, be explored. He said, he 
should think himself singularly fortunate to be trust- 
ed with the adventure. I asked him when he would 
set out. ' To-morrow morning,' was his answer. I 
told him I was afraid that we should not be able, in 
so short a time, to prepare his instructions, and to 
procure for him the letters that were requisite j but 
that if the Committee should approve of his propo- 
sal, all expedition should be used." * 

This interview affords one of the most extraordi- 
nary instances of decision of character, which is to 
be found on record. When we consider his recent 
bitter experience of the past, his labors and suffer- 
ings, which had been so intense and so long continu- 
ed, that a painful reality had more than checked the 
excesses of romantic enthusiasm, which might be 
kindled in a less disciplined imagination ; and when 
we witness the promptitude, with which he is ready 

* Proceedings of the African Association, Vol. I. p. 18. 

24 



278 LIFE 0F J0HN LEDYARD. 

to encounter new perils in the heart of Africa, where 
hardships of the severest kind must inevitably be 
endured, and where death would stare him in the 
face at every stage ; we cannot but admire the su- 
periority of mind over the accidents of human life, 
the rapidity of combination, quickness of decision, 
and fearlessness of consequences, which Ledyard's 
reply indicates. It was the spontaneous triumph of 
an elevated spirit over the whole catalogue of selfish 
considerations, wavering motives, and half subdued 
doubts, which would have contended for days in the 
breast of most men, before they would have adopt- 
ed a firm resolution to jeopard their lives, in an un- 
dertaking so manifestly beset with dangers, and 
which in its best aspect threatened to be a scene of 
toils, privations, and endurance. It is needless to 
say, that the committee of the Association immedi- 
ately closed an agreement with a man, who presented 
himself with such a temper, and with numerons 
other qualities, which fitted him in a peculiar man- 
ner for their service. Preparations for his departure 
were commenced without delay. 

While these movements were going on, he wrote 
a long letter to Dr Ledyard. It was composed at 
different times, and is without date. A few extracts 
from it will give an insight into his pursuits, and ex- 
hibit some traits of his character in a favorable light. 

" I was last evening in company with Mr Jarvis of 
New York, whom I accidentally met in the city, and 
invited to my lodgings. When I was in Paris in 
distress, he behaved very generously to me, and, as 
I do not want money at present, I had a double sat- 
isfaction in our meeting, being equally happy to see 
him, and to pay him one hundred livres, which I 
never expected to be able to do, and I suppose he 



/ 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 279 

did not think I should. If he goes to New York as 
soon as he mentioned, I shall trouble him with this 
letter to you, and with some others to your address 
for my other friends. I wrote you last from this 
place, nearly two years ago, but I suppose you heard 
from me at Petersburg, by Mr Franklin of New 
York. I promised to write you from the remote 
parts of Siberia. I promise every thing to those I 
love ; and so does fortune to me sometimes, hut we 
reciprocally prevent each other from fulfilling our 
engagements. She left me so poor in Siberia, that 
I could not write you, because 1 could not frank the 
letter. You are already acquainted with the intent 
of the voyage, which I have been two years engaged 
in. The history of it I cannot give you, nor indeed 
the world. Parts of it you would comprehend, ap- 
prove, and, I believe, admire 5 parts are incompre- 
hensible, because not to be described. 1 have seen 
and suffered a great deal, but I now have my health 
and spirits in perfection. 

" By my acquaintances in London my arrival was 
announced to a society of noblemen and gentlemen, 
who had for some time been fruitlessly inquiring for 
some person to travel through the continent of Afri- 
ca. I was asked, and consented to undertake the 
tour. The society have appropriated a sum of 
money to defray the expenses. I dine with them 
collectively this day week, finish the affair, and 
within the month shall be on the move. My route 
will be from here to Paris, thence to Marseilles, 
across the Mediterranean to Alexandria in Egypt, 
and then to Grand Cairo. Beyond is unknown, and 
my discoveries begin. Where they will terminate, 
and how, you shall know, if I survive. As we have 
now no minister from the United States in London, 



280 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

and as I know of no certain medium of conveyance, 
I cannot certainly promise you letters from Africa. 
I can only say, that I will write you from Grand 
Cairo, if I can find an opportunity. 

" Before I leave town I intend to send you some 
Tartar curiosities, and, if possible, also, a transcript 
of the few rude remarks I made on my last tour. 
The hints I have given respecting the history of 
man, from circumstances and facts that have come 
within my personal knowledge, you will find new 
and interesting. They form data for investigation, 
but they are better in my hands than in any other's, 
because no other person has seen so much of Asia 
and America. They might amuse you in the hap- 
py retirement, which Mr Jarvis tells me you enjoy 
on Long Island. My seeing this gentleman has been 
almost as good as a visit to New York. Nothing in 
his account of our family and friends has affected 
me so much, as the mercantile misfortunes of your 
worthy brother. Surely the race is not to the swift, 
nor the battle to the strong. Did the pyramids of 
Egypt, which I shall soon see, cover hearts as worthy 
as his, I should no more style them monuments of 
human imbecility ; I should worship before them. 
Mr Jarvis has not been able to give me an exact ac- 
count of his situation. He only tells me, that he 
has failed in business and retired to Jersey, where I 
think he ought to stay, for the world is absolutely 
unworthy of him. I do not say this, because he is 
my cousin, and shared with you the earliest attach- 
ment of my heart. These are things that I feel, 
and that the world has nothing to do with, any more 
than it ought to have with him. They are compli- 
ments, which his enemies would make him, if he 
had any. I never knew so much merit so unfortu- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 281 

yiate. I cannot reflect on his fate unimpassioned. 
He should retire ; if barely comfortable it will be 
'enough, for he cannot go from dignity. My heart is 
on your side of the Atlantic. I know the charms 
of Long Island, the additional ones of your resi- 
dence there, and the sweet accordance of recubans 
sub tegmine fagi- Do not think, because I have 
seen much of the world, and must see more, that I 
have forgotten America. I could as soon forget you, 
myself, my God. 

" My travels have brought upon me a numerous 
correspondence, which, added to the employments 
of my new enterprise, leaves me little leisure. I am 
alone in everything, and in most things so, because 
nobody has been accustomed to think and act in 
travelling matters as I do. I am sorry Mr Jarvis 
will go so soon. To-day is Saturday, and he will 
call on Tuesday, to receive the things for you, and 
take leave of me. My time is wholly occupied, and 
it happens that just at this moment I am the busiest 
with the African Society. Among other things, I 
wish to send you a copy of my Swedish portrait at 
Somerset House. I have one by me, but it is a 
stupid thing. It was taken by a boy, who is as 
dumb and deaf as the portrait itself. He is, howev- 
er, under the patronage of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the 
English Raphael. The boy was sent to me by a 
country squire, who accidentally got acquainted with 
me at an inn, where I lodged in London, and who 
has taken a wonderful fancy to me, and begs to hang 
me up in his hall. This one is still unfinished, and 
so is the one for the squire. They are mere daub- 
ings. Jarvis says our Trumbull is clever, and ad- 
vises me to get him to copy the Swedish drawing, 
which is not only a perfect likeness, but a good 
24* 



282 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

painting. If I do according to his advice, it cannot 
be soon ; and, indeed, I should not trouble you, or 
myself, about this shadow of your friend, were I 
sure of presenting him to you hereafter in substance. 
I shall not have time to settle my affairs before Jar- 
vis goes, if it is to-morrow, for to-morrow I must be 
with the African committee. 

" Jarvis is this moment going. Adieu. — He will 
not take the one hundred livres." 

It may be well to add here, rather as a matter of 
curiosity, than for any other purpose, his description 
of the Siberian articles of clothing, which he sent to 
Dr Ledyard by Mr Jarvis. He was now going to 
a climate, where he would have no occasion for a 
dress, suited to the winters of Siberia. 

" The dresses I send you," he writes, " are such 
as I have worn through many a scene, and was glad 
to get them. The surtout coat is made of reindeer 
skin, and edged with the dewlap of the moose. 
Perhaps you will wear this yourself in winter. It 
was made for a riding-coat, and I have rode both 
horses and deer with it. The first cap is of the Sibe- 
rian red fox ; it is a travelling-cap, and the form is 
entirely Tartar. The second cap is Russian, con- 
sisting of white ermine, and bordered with blue fox 
skin ; it cost me at Yakutsk twenty-five roubles, 
which is four guineas and one rouble. The surtout 
coat cost seventy roubles ; the fox skin cap, six rou- 
bles. The gloves are made of the feet of the fox, 
and lined with the Tartar hare, and cost five roubles. 
The frock is in form and style truly Tartar. It was 
presented to me, and came from the borders of the 
Frozen Ocean, at the mouth of the river Kolyma. 
It is made of a spotted reindeer calf; the edging is 
the same as that on the surtout. You will see, on 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. , 283 

the inside of the skin, a number of spots ; these were 
occasioned by a small insect bred there from the 
eggs of a species of fly, which, together with the 
vast numbers of musquitos, obliges this charming 
animal to migrate annually north and south, as the 
seasons change. 

" The boots are made also of reindeer skin, and 
ornamented with European cloth ; the form is Tar- 
tar ; they cost eight roubles. The socks for the 
boots are made of the skin of an old reindeer. They 
are worn on the inside of the boots, with the hair to 
the feet, with or without stockings. These were 
presented to me, and came from the borders of the 
Frozen Ocean. The cloak, which they are wrapped 
up in, was made in London. I travelled on foot 
with it in Denmark, Sweden, Lapland, Finland, and 
the Lord knows where. I have slept in it, eat in it, 
drank in it, fought in it, negotiated in it. Through 
every scene it has been my constant and hardy ser- 
vant, from my departure till my return to London. 
And now to give it an asylum (for I have none), I 
send it to you. Lay it up ; as soon as I can, I will 
call and lay myself up with it. I have mentioned 
the prices of the above articles, to give you a notion 
how dear fur dresses are, even in the remotest parts 
of the vast dominions of Russia. These clothes 
were not all that I wore last winter ; I wore many 
others, and froze my nose and ears after all. You 
have no idea of the excessive cold in those re- 
gions." 

The Society, in whose service Ledyard was now 
engaged, had its origin with a few individuals in 
London, but the number of its members socn in- 
creased to about two hundred, among whom were 
some of the most eminent men in the kingdom. 



284 L1FE 0F J0HN LEDYARD. 

Their immediate object was to promote discoveries 
in the interior of Africa, and a fund was raised by a 
subscription from each member, for the purpose of 
effecting that object. The Society was denominated 
the African Association, and was patronized by the 
king. A committee was to be annually chosen by 
ballot, whose duty it was to transact the affairs of the 
Society, by taking charge of the funds, employing 
persons to travel, collecting intelligence, and keeping 
up a correspondence with various parts of Africa. 
The first committee appointed, and that with which 
Ledyard made his arrangements, consisted of Lord 
Rawdon, the Bishop of Landaff, Sir Joseph Banks, 
Mr Beaufoy, and Mr Steuart. Among the other 
members, who joined the Society at the beginning, 
were Mr Addington, the Earl of Bute, General 
Conway, the Duke of Grafton, Edward Gibbon, 
John Hunter, Dr Lettsom, the Earl of Moira, the 
Duke of Northumberland, Lord Sheffield, Benja- 
min Vaughan, and Mr Wilberforce. An institution, 
supported by names of such weight and respecta- 
bility, would naturally attract public attention, and 
ensure all the success of which the nature of its de- 
signs was susceptible. 

For many ages the continent of Africa had been 
a neglected portion of the globe, of which the rest 
of the world had taken little account. The learn- 
ing, and splendor, and prowess of Egypt were de- 
parted ; Carthage, with all its glory, had sunk into 
the dust ; the proud monuments of Numidian great- 
ness had been blotted from the face of the earth, 
and almost from the memory of man. The gloom 
of this scene was heightened, not more by the rava- 
ges of time in destroying what had been, than by 
the contrasts, which succeeding changes had pro- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 285 

duced. A semibarbarous population, gathered from 
the wrecks of fallen nations, enemies to the arts and to 
the best social interests of man, had gradually spread 
themselves over the whole of the northern borders 
of Africa, and presented a barrier to the hazards of 
enterprise, no less than to the inroads of civilization. 
Whatever might be the ardor for discovery and the 
disregard of danger, nobody cared to penetrate into 
these regions, where all was uncertainty, and where 
the chance of success bore no proportion to the perils 
that must be encountered. 

There is no question, that the northern half of 
Africa was better known to the Romans in the time 
of Julius Caesar, than to the Europeans in the mid- 
dle of the eighteenth century. A few scattered 
names of rivers, towns, and nations, occupied the 
map of the interior, traced there by a hesitating hand, 
on the dubious authority of the Nubian geographer, 
Edrissi, and the Spanish traveller, Leo Africanus. 
The rhymes of Swift on this subject were not more 
witty than true. 

" Geographers, in Afric maps, 
With savage pictures fill their gaps» 
And o'er unhabitable downs 
Place elephants for want of towns." 

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Leo pene- 
trated as far as Timbuctoo and the Niger ; but so im- 
perfect were his descriptions even of what he saw, 
that very little geographical knowledge was commu- 
nicated by them. He was on the banks of the Ni- 
ger, but it could not be ascertained from his account, 
whether this river ran to the east or west, nor indeed, 
whether it existed as a separate stream. In short, 
down to the time when the African Association was 
formed, almost the whole of this vast continent, its 



286 LIFE 0F J0H N LEDYARD. 

geography and physical resources, its inhabitants, 
governments,. languages, were a desideratum in the 
history of nature and of man. It could not be 
doubted, that many millions of human beings inhab- 
ited these hidden regions- Nor were the character 
and condition of these people, their institutions and 
social advancement, mere matters of curiosity ; they 
had a relation to the people of other parts of the 
globe, and, when discovered and understood, might 
be turned to the common advantage of the great 
human family. There are no nations, that may not 
profit by an intercourse between each other, either 
by an exchange of products peculiar to each, or by 
a reciprocal moral influence, or by both. 

On these broad and benevolent principles the So- 
ciety for promoting discoveries in Africa was insti- 
tuted, and the scheme was worthy of the enlightened 
philanthropists, by whom it was devised. Ledyard's 
instructions were few, simple, and direct. He was 
to repair first to Egypt, travel thence across the 
continent, make such observations as he could, and 
report the results to the Association. Everything 
was left to his discretion. His past experience, the 
extraordinary energy of his character, his disinter- 
estedness, and the enthusiasm with which he en- 
gaged in the present undertaking, were all such as 
to ensure the confidence of his employers, and in- 
spire them with sanguine hopes. 

As for himself, at no period of his life had he re- 
flected with so much satisfaction on his condition, or 
his prospects. Heretofore he had always been alone, 
oppressed with poverty, and contending with an ad- 
verse fate. But now he was free from want, patron- 
ized by the first men in Great Britain, and engaged 
at their solicitation, and under their auspices, in an 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 287 

enterprise, fraught, it is true, with many dangers, 
but promising the glory of which he had ever been 
ambitious, and opening to him a field of adventure, 
which his imagination had pictured to him as the first 
to be chosen, after he had discharged what he deem- 
ed a paramount duty, in exploring the unknown parts 
of the continent to which he owed his birth. When 
he was departing from London for Egypt, he may 
be said to have been, for the first time in his life, at 
the summit of his wishes- All previous cares, de- 
feats, and disasters appear to have been forgotten, 
or swallowed up in the deep interests of the present, 
and the cherished anticipations of the future. A 
letter written to his mother at this time will indicate 
the tone of his spirits. 

" Truly is it written, that the ways of God are 
past finding out, and his decrees unsearchable. Is 
the Lord thus great ? So also is he good. I am an 
instance of it. I have trampled the world under my 
feet, laughed at fear, and derided danger. Through 
millions of fierce savages, over parching deserts, the 
freezing North, the everlasting ice, and stormy seas, 
have I passed without harm. How good is my God ! 
What rich subjects have I for praise, love, and ado- 
ration ! 

" I am but just returned to England from my 
travels of two years, and am going away into Africa 
to examine that continent. I expect to be absent 
three years. I shall be in Egypt as soon as I can 
get there, and after that go into unknown parts. I 
have full and perfect health. Remember me to my 
brothers and sisters. Desire them to remember 
me, for, if Heaven permits, I shall see them again. 
I pray God to bless and comfort you all. Farewell." 

At length the preparations for his departure were 



288 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

completed. He had become well acquainted with 
the views of the committee ; and a sufficient amount 
of money had been raised, by the subscriptions, to 
provide for the expenses of his journey to Egypt, 
and to purchase such articles of merchandise as 
might be found necessary to enable him to assume 
the character of a trader in a" caravan to the interior, 
or for travelling in any other manner, which he 
should deem most expedient when on the spot. The 
last letter he wrote to America was a short one, da- 
ted at London, on the twenty-ninth of June. 

" I suppose that my letter and curiosities, sent by 
Mr Jarvis, are now halfway over the Atlantic. Here 
you have a little portrait, which I leave to the care 
of his brother in town. Enclosed with it is a poor 
portrait of me, taken by the dumb boy mentioned 
in my other letter. If it were anything like paint- 
ing, I would desire you to keep it. As it is, I beg 
you will send it to my mother. She will be as fond 
of it, as if done by Guido. I would have sent it 
framed, if the opportunity would have permitted. 
To-morrow morning I set out for France. Adieu." 

Accordingly he left London on the thirtieth of 
June. Mr Beaufoy speaks of the interview he had 
with him, just as he was. setting off, and adds these 
affecting remarks as given in Ledyard's own words. 

" ' I am accustomed,' said he, in our last con- 
versation, ('twas on the morning of his departure 
for Africa), ' I am accustomed to hardships. I have 
known both hunger and nakedness to the utmost ex- 
tremity of human suffering. I have known what it 
is to have food given me as charity to a madman ; 
and I have at times been obliged to shelter myself 
under the miseries of that character, to avoid a 
heavier calamity. My distresses have been greater 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 289 

than I have ever owned, or ever will own to any 
man. Such evils are terrible to bear ; but they 
never yet had power to turn me from my purpose. 
If I live, I will faithfully perform, in its utmost ex- 
tent, my engagement to the society ; and if I perish 
in the attempt, my honor will still be safe, for death 
cancels all bonds.' " 

In Paris he met with Mr Jefferson, Lafayette, and 
several others of his old friends, whom he had left 
there three years before, and towards whom he en- 
tertained sentiments of the warmest gratitude. He 
continued at Paris seven or eight days, and then pro- 
ceeded to Marseilles, where he took ship for Alex- 
andria. From this place he wrote to Mr Jefferson 
the following letter. 

" As I shall go to Cairo in a few days, from 
whence it may be difficult for me to write to you, I 
do it here, though unprepared. I am in good health 
and spirits, and the prospects before me are flattering. 
This intelligence, with my wishes for your happi- 
ness and an eternal remembrance of your goodness 
to me, must form the only part of my letter of any 
consequence ; except that I desire to be remember- 
ed to the Marquis de la Fayette, his lady, Mr Short, 
and other friends. Deducting the week I stayed at 
Paris, and two days at Marseilles, I was only thirty- 
four days from London to this place. 

" I am sorry to inform you, that I regret having 
visited the gentleman you mentioned, and of having 
made use of your name. I shall ever think, though 
he was extremely polite, that he rather strove to 
prevent my embarking at Marseilles, than to facili- 
tate it ; for, by bandying me about among the mem- 
bers of the Chamber of Commerce, he had nearly, 
and very nearly, lost me my passage ; and in the 
25 



290 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

last ship from Marseilles for the season. He knew 
better ; he knew that the Chamber of Commerce 
had no business with me ; and, besides, I only asked 
him if he could without trouble address me to the 
captain of a ship bound to Alexandria ; nothing 
more. 

" Alexandria at large presents a scene more 
wretched, than I have witnessed. Poverty, rapine, 
murder, tumult, blind bigotry, cruel persecution, 
pestilence ! A small town built on the ruins of an- 
tiquity, as remarkable for its miserable architecture, 
as I suppose the place once was for its good and 
great works of that kind. Pompey's Pillar and 
Cleopatra's Obelisk are now almost the only remains 
of remote antiquity. They are both, and particu- 
larly the former, noble objects to contemplate, and 
are certainly more captivating from the contrast of 
the deserts and forlorn prospects around them. No 
man of whatever turn of mind can see the whole, 
without retiring from the scene with a Sic transit 
gloria mundi." 

Having passed ten days only at Alexandria, he 
pursued his journey up the Nile to Cairo, where he 
arrived on the nineteenth of August. Here again 
he wrote to Mr Jefferson. 

" I sent you a short letter from Alexandria. I 
begin this without knowing where I shall close it, or 
when I shall send it, or, indeed, whether I shall ever 
send it. But I will have it ready, in case an oppor- 
tunity shall offer. Having been in Cairo only four 
days, I have not seen much of particular interest for 
you ; and, indeed, you will not expect much of this 
kind from me. My business is in another quarter, 
and the information I seek totally new. Anything 
from this place would not be so. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 291 

" At all events I shall never want a subject, when 
it is to you I write. 1 shall never think my letter 
an indifferent one, when it contains the declaration 
of my gratitude and my affection for you ; and this, 
notwithstanding you thought hard of me for being 
employed by an English Association, which hurt me 
much while I was at Paris. You know your own 
heart, and if my suspicions are groundless, forgive 
them, since they proceed from the jealousy I have, 
not to lose the regard you have in times past been 
pleased to honor me with. You are not obliged to 
esteem me, but I am obliged to esteem you, or to 
take leave of my senses, and confront the opinions 
of the greatest and best characters I know. If I 
cannot, therefore, address myself to you as a man 
you regard, I must do it as one that regards you for 
your own sake, and for the sake of my country, 
which has set me the example. 

" I made my tour from Alexandria by water, and 
entered the Nile by the western branch of the 
mouths of the river. I was five days coming to 
Cairo, but this passage is generally made in four, 
and sometimes in three days. You have heard and 
read much of the Nile, and so had I, but when I 
saw it, I could not conceive it to be the same. What 
eyes do travellers see with ? Are they fools or 
rogues ? For Heaven's sake, hear the plain truth 
about it. First, in regard to its size. Obvious com- 
parisons in such cases are good. Do you know the 
river Connecticut ? Of all the rivers I have seen, it 
most resembles that in size. It is a little wider, and 
may on that account better compare with the Thames. 
This is the mighty, the sovereign of rivers, the vast 
Nile, that has been metamorphosed into one of the 
wonders of the world. Let me be careful how I 



292 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

read, and above all how I read ancient history. 
You have heard and read, too, much of its inunda- 
tions. If the thousands of large and small canals 
from it, and the thousands of men and machines 
employed to transfer by artificial means the water of 
the Nile to the meadows on its banks, if this be the 
inundation that is meant, it is true ; any other is false. 
It is not an inundating river. 1 came up the river 
from the fifteenth to the twentieth of August, and 
about the thirtieth the water will be at the height 
of the freshet. When I left the river, its banks 
were four, five, and six feet, above the water, and 
here in town I am told they expect the Nile to be 
only one or two feet higher at the most. This is a 
proof, if any were wanted, that the river does not 
overflow its banks. 

" I saw the pyramids as I passed up the river, but 
they were four or five leagues ofT. It is warm 
weather here at. present, and were it not for the north 
winds, that cool themselves in their passage over the 
Mediterranean, and blow upon us, we should be in 
a sad situation. As it is, I think I have felt it hotter 
at Philadelphia in the same month. The city of 
Cairo is about half as large in size as Paris, and is 
said to contain seven hundred thousand inhabitants. 
You will therefore anticipate the fact of its narrow 
streets and high houses. In this number are con- 
tained one hundred thousand Copts, or descendants 
of the ancient Egyptians. There are likewise Chris- 
tians, and those of different sects from Jerusalem, 
Damascus, Aleppo, and other parts of Syria. 

" With regard to my journey, I can only tell you 
with any certainty, that I shall be able to pass as far 
as the western boundaries of what is called Turkish 
Nubia to the town of Sennaar. I expect to get there 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 293 

with some surety. Beyond that all is dark before 
me. My wishes and designs are to pass in that par- 
allel across the continent. I will write from Sennaar 
if I can. 

" You know the disturbances in this unhappy 
country, and the nature of them. The Beys, re- 
volted from the Bashaw, have possession of Upper 
Egypt, and are now encamped with an army, pitiful 
enough indeed, about three miles south of Cairo. 
They say to the Bashaw, ' Come out of your city 
and fight us ; ' and the Bashaw says, ' Come out of 
your entrenchments and fight me.' You know this 
revolt is a stroke in Russian politics. Nothing mer- 
its more the whole force of burlesque, than both the 
poetic and prosaic legends of this country. Sweet 
are the songs of Egypt on paper. Who is not rav- 
ished with gums, balms, dates, figs, pomegranates, 
circassia, and sycamores, without recollecting that 
amidst these are dust, hot and fainting winds, bugs, 
musquitoes, spiders, flies, leprosy, fevers, and almost 
universal blindness ? I am in perfect health. Adieu 
for the present, and believe me to be, with all possi- 
ble esteem and regard, your sincere friend." 



15* 



294 LIF E OF JOHN LEDYARD. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Remarks on the appearance of the country in passing up the Nile. 
— Condition of a Christian at Cairo. — Interview with the Aga. — 
Miscellaneous observations on the customs of the Arabs, and 
other races of people found in Cairo. — Information respecting 
the interior of Africa. — Visit to the caravans and slave markets. 
— The traveller's reflections on his condition and prospects. — 
His last letter to Mr Jefferson. — Joins a caravan and prepares to 
depart for Sennaar. — He is taken suddenly ill. — His death. — Ac- 
count of his person and character. 

As he was furnished with letters of recommenda- 
tion to the British Consul at Cairo, he found little 
difficulty in procuring such accommodations as he 
desired, and such information as enabled him to di- 
rect his attention immediately to the great object of 
his mission. His intention was to join a caravan, 
bound to the interior, and to continue with it to the 
end of its route. Beyond this he must be guided 
by circumstances, which could not be foreseen, and 
concerning which no calculation was to be made. 
He adopted a dress suited to the character he was 
to assume, and began in earnest to study the man- 
ners of the people around him, and particularly of 
the traders in the caravans, which were then at Cai- 
ro. Three months were passed in this occupation. 
He kept a journal of whatever he deemed most wor- 
thy of record, which was afterwards transmitted to 
the African Association. Such parts of the journal, 
as are contained in the Proceedings of that body, 
will here be added. They bear the peculiar marks 
of the author's mind, his habits of observation, his 
boldness of thought and opinion, and his quick per- 
ception of resemblance and contrast in the various 
races of men. 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 395 

"August 14th. — I left Alexandria at midnight, 
with a pleasant breeze north ; and was, at sunrise 
next morning, at the mouth of the Nile, which has 
a bar of sand across it, and soundings as irregular as 
the sea, which is raised upon it by the contentions of 
counter currents and winds. 

" The view in sailing up the Nile is very confined, 
unless from the top of the mast, or some other emi- 
nence, and then it is an unbounded plain of excel- 
lent land, miserably cultivated, and yet interspersed 
with a great number of villages, both on its banks 
and as far along the meadows as one can see in any 
direction. The river is also filled with boats passing 
and repassing — boats all of one kind, and navigated 
in one manner ; nearly also of one size, the largest 
carrying ten or fifteen tons. On board of these 
boats are seen onions, watermelons, dates, sometimes 
a horse, a camel (which lies down in the boat), 
sheep, goats, dogs, men, and women. Towards 
evening and morning they have music. 

" Whenever we stopped at a village, I used to 
walk into it with my conductor, who, being a Mus- 
selman, and a descendant from Mahomet, wore a 
green turban, and was therefore respected, and I 
was sure of safety ; but, in truth, dressed as I was 
in a common Turkish habit, I believe I should have 
walked as safely without him. I saw no propensity 
among the inhabitants to incivility. The villages are 
most miserable assemblages of poor little mud huts, 
flung very close together without any kind of order, 
full of dust, lice, fleas, bugs, flies, and all the curses 
of Moses ; people poorly clad, the youths naked ; 
in such respects, they rank infinitely below any sav- 
ages I ever saw. 

il The common people wear nothing but a shirt 



296 LIFE OF JOHN' LED YARD. 

and drawers, and they are always blue. Green is 
the royal, or holy color ; none but the descendants 
of Mahomet, if I am rightly informed, being per- 
mitted to wear it. 

"August 19th — From the little town where we 
landed, the distance to Cairo is about a mile and a 
half, which we rode on asses ; for the ass in this 
country is the Christian's horse, as he is allowed no 
other animal to ride upon. Indeed I find the situa- 
tion of a Christian, or what they more commonly 
call here a Frank, to be very, very humiliating, ig- 
nominious, and distressing. No one, by a combina- 
tion of any causes, can reason down to such effects 
as experience teaches us do exist here ; it being im- 
possible to conceive, that the enmity I have alluded 
to could exist between men ; or, in fact, that the 
same species of beings, from any causes whatever, 
should ever think and act so differently as the Egyp- 
tians and the English do. 

" I arrived at Cairo early in the morning, on the 
■nineteenth of August, and went to the house of the 
Venetian Consul, Mr Rosetti, charge d'affaires for 
the English Consul here. After dinner, not being 
able to find any other lodging, and receiving no very 
pressing invitation from Mr Rosetti to lodge with 
him, I went to a convent. This convent consists 
of missionaries, sent by the Pope to propagate the 
Christian faith, or at least to give shelter to Chris- 
tians. The Christians here are principally from 
Damascus ; the convent is governed by the order of 
Recollets ; a number of English, as well as other 
European travellers have lodged there. 

" August 26th. — This -day I was introduced by 
Rosetti to the Aga Mahommed, the confidential min- 
ister of Ismael, the most powerful of the four ruling 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 297 

Beys. He gave me his hand to kiss, and with it the 
promise of letters, protection, and support, through 
Turkish Nubia, and also to some chiefs far inland. 
In a subsequent conversation, he told me I should 
see in my travels a people, who had power to trans- 
mute themselves into the forms of different animals. 
He asked me what I thought of the affair. I did 
not like to render the ignorance, simplicity, and cre- 
dulity of the Turk apparent. I told him, that it 
formed a part of the character of all savages to be 
great necromancers; but that I had never before 
heard of any so great, as those which he had done 
me the honor to describe ; that it had rendered me 
more anxious to be on my voyage, and if I passed 
among them, I would, in the letter I promised to 
write to him, give him a more particular account of 
them, than he had hitherto had. He asked me how 
I could travel, without the language of the people 
where I should pass ? I told him, with vocabularies. 
I might as well have read to him a page of Newton's 
Principia. He returned to his fables again. Is it 
not curious, that the Egyptians (for I speak of the 
natives of the country, as well as of him, when I 
make the observation) are still such dupes to the 
arts of sorcery ? Was it the same people who built 
the pyramids ? 

" I cannot understand that the Turks have a bet- 
ter opinion of our mental powers, than we have of 
theirs ; but they say of us, that we are ' a people 
who carry our minds on our fingers' ends ; ' meaning, 
that we put them in exercise constantly, and render 
them subservient to all manner of purposes, and with 
celerity, despatch, and ease, do what we do. 

" I suspect the Copts to have been the origin of 
the Negro race ; the nose and lips correspond with 



298 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

those of the Negro. The hair, whenever I can see 
it among the people here (the Copts), is curled ; not 
close like the Negroes, but like the Mulattoes. I 
observe a greater variety of color among the human 
species here, than in any other country ; and a 
greater variety of feature, than in any other country 
not possessing a greater degree of civilization. I 
have seen an Abyssinian woman, and a Bengal man ; 
the color is the same in both ; so are their features 
and persons. 

" I have seen a small mummy ; it has what I call 
wampum-work on it. It appears as common here 
as among the Tartars. Tattooing is as prevalent 
among the Arabs of this place, as among the South 
Sea islanders. It is a little curious, that the women 
here are more generally than in any other part of 
the world tattooed on the chin, with perpendicular 
lines descending from the under lip to the chin, like 
the women on the Northwest Coast of America. It 
is also a custom here to stain the nails red, like the 
Cochin Chinese, and the northern Tartars. The 
mask, or veil, that the women here wear, resembles 
exactly that worn by the priests at Otaheite, and 
those seen at the Sandwich Islands. 

" I have not yet seen the Arabs make use of a 
tool, like our axe or hatchet ; but what they use for 
such purposes, as we do our hatchet and axe, is in 
the form of an adze, and is a form we found most 
agreeable to the South Sea islanders. I see no in- 
stance of a tool formed designedly for the use of the 
right or left hand particularly, as the cotogon is 
among the Yakuti Tartars. 

" There is certainly a very remarkable affinity be- 
tween the Russian and Greek dress. The fillet 
round the temples of the Greek and Russian women 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 299 

is a circumstance in dress, that perhaps would strike 
nobody as it does me ; and so of the wampum-work 
too, which is also found among them both. They 
spin here with the distaff and spindle only, like the 
French peasantry, and others in Europe; and the 
common Arab loom is upon our principle, though 
rude. I saw to-day an Arab woman white, like the 
white Indians in the South Sea islands, and at the 
Isthmus of Darien. These kind of people all look 
alike. Among the Greek women here, I find the 
identical Archangel headdress. 

" Their music is instrumental, consisting of a 
drum and pipe, both which resemble those two in- 
struments in the South Seas. The drum is exactly 
like the Otaheite drum ; the pipe is made of cane, 
and consists of a long and short tube joined ; the 
music resembles very much the bagpipe, and is k 

pleasant. All their music is concluded, if not ac- 
companied, by the clapping of hands. I think it 
singular, that the women here make a noise with 
their mouths like frogs, and that this frog music is 
always made at weddings ; and I believe on all 
other occasions of merriment, where there are wo- 
men. 

" It is remarkable, that the dogs here are of just 
the same species found among the Otaheitans. It 
is also remarkable, that in one village I saw exactly 
the same machines used for diversion as in Russia. 
I forget the Russian name for it. It is a large kind 
of wheel, on the extremities of which there are 
suspended seas, in which people are whirled round 
over and under each other. 

" The women dress their hair behind, exactly in 
the same manner in which the women of the Kal- 
muk Tartars dress theirs. 



i 



300 LIFE 0F JOHN LEDYARD. 

" In the history of the kingdom of Benin, in 
Guinea, the chiefs are called Aree Roee or street 
kings. Among the islands of the South Sea, Ota- 
heite, and others, they call the chiefs Arees, and the 
great chiefs Aree le Hoi. I think this curious ; and 
so I do, that it is a custom of the Arabs to spread a 
blanket, when they would invite any one to eat or 
rest with them. The American Indians spread the 
beaver skins on such occasions. The Arabs of the 
deserts, like the Tartars, have an invincible attach- 
ment to liberty ; no arts will reconcile them to any 
other life, or form of government, however modified. 
This is a character given me here of the Arabs. It 
is singular, that the Arab language has no word for 
liberty, although it has for slaves. The Arabs, like 
the New-Zealanders, engage with a long, strong 
spear. 

" I have made the best inquiries I have been able, 
since I have been here, of the nature of the country 
before me ; of Sennaar, Darfoor, Wangara, of Nu- 
bia, Abyssinia, of those named, or unknown by 
name. I should have been happy to have sent you 
better information of those places, than I am yet 
able to do. It will appear very singular to you 
in England, that we in Egypt are so ignorant of 
countries, which we annually visit. The Egyptians 
know as little of geography, as the generality of the 
French ; and, like them, sing, dance, and traffic 
without it. 

" I have the best assurances of a certain and safe 
conduct, by the return of the caravan that is arrived 
from Sennaar; and Mr Rosetti tells me, that the 
letters I shall have from the Aga here, will insure me 
of being conveyed from hand to hand, to my jour- 
ney's end. The Mahometans in Africa are what the 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 301 

Russians are in Siberia, a trading, enterprising, su- 
perstitious, warlike set of vagabonds, and wherever 
they are set upon going, they will and do go ; but 
they neither can nor do make voyages merely com- 
mercial, or merely religious, across Africa ; and 
where we do not find them in commerce, we find 
them not at all. They cannot, however vehemently 
pushed on by religion, afford to cross the continent 
without trading by the way. 

" October 14th. — I went to-day to the market- 
place, where they vend the black slaves, that come 
from towards the interior parts of Africa. There 
were two hundred of them together, dressed and 
ornamented as in their country. The appearance of 
a savage in every region is almost the same. There 
were very few men among them ; this indicates that 
they are prisoners of war. They have a great 
many beads, and other ornaments about them, that 
are from the East. I was told by one of them, that i 

they came from the west of Sennaar, fifty-five days' 
journey, which may be about four or five hundred 
miles. A Negro chief said, the Nile had its source 
in his country. In general they had their hair 
plaited in a great number of small detached plaits, 
none exceeding in length six or eight inches ; the 
hair was filled with grease and dirt, purposely daub- 
ed on. 

" October 16th. — I have renewed my visit to-day, 
and passed it more agreeably than yesterday ; for 
yesterday I was rudely treated. The Franks are 
prohibited to purchase slaves, and therefore the 
Turks do not like to see them in the market. Mr 
Rosetti favored me with one of his running charge 
d'affaires to accompany me ; but having observed 
yesterday among the ornaments of the Negroes a 
26 



•>02 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 



variety of beads, and wanting to know from what 
country they came, I requested Mr Rosetti, previ- 
ously to my second visit, to show me from his store 
samples of Venetian beads. He showed me sam- 
ples of fifteen hundred different kinds ; after this I 
set out. 

" The name of the country these savages come 
from is Darfoor, and is well known on account of 
the slave trade, as well as of that in gum and ele- 
phants' teeth. The appearance of these Negroes 
declares them to be a people in as savage a state 
as any people can be ; but not of so savage a tem- 
per, or of that species of countenance, that indicates 
savage intelligence. They appear a harmless wild 
people ; but they are mostly young women. 

" The beads they are ornamented with are Vene- 
tian ; and they have some Venetian brass medals, 
which the Venetians make for trade. The beads 
are worked wampum-wise. I know not where they 
got the marine shells they worked among their beads, 
nor how they could have seen white men. I asked 
them if they would use me well in their country, if I 
should visit it ? They said, Yes ; and added that 
they should make a king of me, and treat me with 
all the delicacies of their country. Like the Egyp- 
tian women, and like most other savages, they stick 
on ornaments wherever they can, and wear, like 
them, a great ring in the nose, either from the car- 
tilage, or from the side ; they also rub on some 
black kind of paint round the eyes, like the Egyp- 
tian women. They are a sizeable, well-formed 
people, quite black, with what, I believe, we call the 
true Guinea face, and with curled short hair ; but 
not more curled or shorter than I have seen it among 
the Egyptians j but in general these savages plait it 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 303 

in tassels plastered with clay or paint. Among some 
of them the hair. is a foot long, and curled, resemb- 
ling exactly one of our mops. The prevailing color, 
where it can be seen, is a black and red mixed. I 
think it would make any hair curl, even Uncle Toby's 
wig, to be plaited and plastered as this is. This 
caravan, which I call the Darfoor caravan, is not 
very rich. The Sennaar is the rich caravan. 

" October 19th. — I went yesterday to see if more 
of the Darfoor caravan had arrived ; but they were 
not. I wonder why travellers to Cairo have not 
visited these slave markets, and conversed with the 
Jelabs, or travelling merchants of these caravans ; 
both are certainly sources of great information. The 
eighth part of the money expended on other ac- 
counts, might here answer some good solid purpose. 
For my part, I have not expended a crown, and I 
have a better idea of the people of Africa, of its 
trade, of the position of places, the nature of the 
country, and manner of travelling, than ever I had 
by any other means ; and, I believe, better than any 
other means would afford me. 

" October 25th. — I have been again to the slave 
market ; but neither the Jelabs (a name which in 
this country is given to all travelling merchants), nor 
the slaves, are yet arrived in town ; they will be here 
to-morrow. I met two or three in the street, and one 
with a shield and spear. I have understood to-day, 
that the king of Sennaar is himself a merchant, and 
concerned in the Sennaar caravans. The merchant 
here, who contracts to convey me to Sennaar, is 
Procurer at Cairo to the King of Sennaar ; this is a 
good circumstance, and one I knew not of till to-day. 
Mr Rosetti informed me of it. He informed me 
also, that this year the importation of Negro slaves 



304 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

into Egypt will amount to twenty thousand. The 
caravans from the interior countries of Africa do not 
arrive here uniformly every year ; they are some- 
times absent two or three years. 

" Among a dozen of Sennaar slaves, I saw three 
personable men of a good bright olive color, of viva- 
cious and intelligent countenances ; but they had all 
three (which first attracted my notice) heads uncom- 
monly formed ; the forehead was the narrowest, the 
longest, and most protuberant I ever saw. Many of 
these slaves speak a few words of the Arab language ; 
but whether they learned them before or since their 
captivity I cannot tell. 

" A caravan goes from here to Fezzan, which 
they call a journey of fifty days ; and from Fezzan 
to Tombuctou, which they call a journey of ninety 
days. The caravans travel about twenty miles a 
day, which makes the distance on the road from 
here to Fezzan, one thousand miles; and from 
Fezzan to Tombuctou, one thousand eight hundred 
miles. From here to Sennaar is reckoned six hun- 
dred miles. I have been waiting several days to 
have an interview with the Jelabs, who go from 
hence to Sennaar. I am told that they carry, in 
general, trinkets ; but among other things soap, anti- 
mony," red linen, razors, scissars, mirrors, beads ; 
and, as far as I can yet learn, they bring from Sen- 
naar elephants' teeth, the gum called here gum 
Sennaar, camels, ostrich feathers, and slaves. 

" Wangara is talked of here as a place producing 
much gold, and as a kingdom ; all accounts, and 
there are many, agree in this. The King of Wan- 
gara (whom I hope to see in about three months after 
leaving this) is said to dispose of just what quantity 
he pleases of his gold ; sometimes a great deal, and 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 305 

sometimes little or none ; and this, it is said, he does 
to prevent strangers knowing how rich he is, and 
that he may live in peace." 

In a letter to the Association are expressed his 
undiminished zeal in their cause, the high motives 
which impelled him onward, and his utter indiffer- 
ence to everything but the success of his undertak- 
ing. 

" Money ! it is a vile slave ! I have at present an 
economy of a more exalted kind to observe. I have 
the eyes of some of the first men of the first king- 
dom on earth turned upon me. I am engaged by 
those very men, in the most important object that 
any private individual can be engaged in. I have 
their approbation to acquire or to lose ; and their 
esteem, also, which I prize beyond everything, ex- 
cept the independent idea of serving mankind. 
Should rashness or desperation carry me through, 
whatever fame the vain and injudicious might be- 
stow, I should not accept of it ; it is the good and 
great I look to ; fame bestowed by them is alto- 
gether different, and is closely allied to a ' Well 
done ' from God ; but rashness will not be likely to 
carry me through, any more than timid caution. 
To find the necessary medium of conduct, to 
vary and apply it to contingencies, is the economy 
I allude to ; and if I succeed by such means, men of 
sense in any succeeding epoch will not blush to fol- 
low me, and perfect those discoveries, which I have 
only abilities to trace out roughly, or a disposition 
to attempt. A Turkish sopha has no charms for me ; 
if it had, I could soon obtain one here. Believe 
me, a single ' Well done ' from your Association has 
more worth in it to me, than all the trappings of the 
East j and what is still more precious, is, the pleas- 
26* 






306 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

ure I have in the justification of my own conduct at 
the tribunal of my own heart." 

On the fifteenth of November he again wrote to 
Mr Jefferson as follows. 

"This is my third letter to you from Egypt. I 
should certainly write to the Marquis de la Fayette, 
if I knew where to find him. I speak of him often 
among the French at Cairo. But if our news here, 
with respect to the affairs of France, be authentic, 
he would hardly find time to read my letter, if his 
active spirit is employed in the conflict in proportion 
to its powers. It is possible, however, that my com- 
pliments may reach him, and I desire it may be 
through your means. Tell him that I love him, and 
that the French patriots in Cairo call on the name 
of Suffrein and La Fayette, the one for point-blank 
honesty, and the other as the soldier and the cour- 
tier. The old veteran in finance and civil economy, 
Mr Necker, is welcomed to the helm. 

" I have now been in Cairo three months, and it 
is within a few days only, that I have had any cer- 
tainty of being able to proceed in the prosecution of 
my voyage. The difficulties that have attended me, 
have occupied me day and night. I should other- 
wise not only have written to you oftener, but should 
have given you some little history of what I have 
heard and seen. My excuse now is, that 1 am 
doing up my baggage for my journey, and most cu- 
rious baggage it is, I shall leave Cairo in two or 
three days. 

" Perhaps I should not have pleased you, if I had 
written much in detail. I think I know your taste 
for ancient history ; it does not comport with what 
experience teaches me. The enthusiastic avidity 
with which you search for treasures in Egypt, and I 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 307 

suppose all over the East, ought in justice to the 
world, and your own generous propensities, to be 
modified, corrected, and abated. I should have 
written you the truth. It is disagreeable to hear it, 
when habit has accustomed one to falsehood. You 
have the travels of Savary in this country. Burn 
them. Without entering into a discussion, that 
would be too long for a letter, I cannot tell you why 
I think most historians have written more to satisfy 
themselves, than to benefit others. I am certainly 
very angry with those, who have written of the 
countries where I have travelled, and of this par- 
ticularly. They have all more or less deceived me. 
In some cases perhaps it is difficult to determine, 
which does the most mischief, the self-love of the 
historian, or the curiosity of the reader ; but both 
together have led us into errors, that it is now too 
late to rectify. You will think my head is turned, to 
write you such a letter from Egypt ; but the reason 
is, I do not intend it shall be turned. 

" I have passed my time disagreeably here. Reli- 
gion does more mischief in Egypt than all other 
things, and here it has always done more than in 
most other places. The humiliating situation of a 
Frank would be insupportable to me, except for my 
voyage. It is a shame to the sons of Europe, that 
they should suffer such arrogance at the hands of a 
banditti of ignorant fanatics. I assure myself, that 
even your curiosity and love of antiquity would not 
detain you in Egypt three months. 

" From Cairo I am to travel southwest about three 
hundred leagues to a black king. Then my present 
conductors will leave me to my fate. Beyond, I 
suppose I shall go alone. I expect to cut the con- 
tinent across between the parallels of twelve and 



308 LIFE OP JOHN LEDYARD. 

twenty degrees of north latitude. If possible, I shall 
write you from the kingdom of this black gentle- 
man. Jf not, do not forget me in the interval of 
time, which may pass during my voyage from thence 
to Europe, and as likely to France as anywhere. 
I shall not forget you j indeed, it will be a consola- 
tion to think of you in my last moments. Be happy." 

This is the last letter, which Ledyard is known to 
have written, either to Mr Jefferson or to any other 
person. He wrote to the secretary of the Associa- 
tion, probably by the same conveyance, stating that, 
after much vexatious delay, all things were at last 
ready for his departure, and that his next communi- 
cation might be expected from Sennaar. The Aga 
had given him letters of recommendation, his pas- 
sage was engaged, the terms settled, and the day 
fixed, on which the caravan was to leave Cairo. 
He wrote in good spirits and apparent health, and 
the confidence of the Association had never been 
more firm, nor their hopes more sanguine, than at 
this juncture. Their extreme disappointment may 
well be imagined, therefore, when the next letters 
from Egypt brought the melancholy intelligence of 
his death. 

During his residence at Cairo, his pursuits had 
made it necessary for him to be much exposed to 
the heat of the sun, and to other deleterious influen- 
ces of the climate, at the most unfavorable season of 
the year. The consequence was an attack of a 
bilious complaint, which he thought to remove by the 
common remedy of vitriolic acid. Whether this was 
administered by himself, or by some other person, is 
not related, but the quantity taken was so great, as 
to produce violent and burning pains, that threatened 
to be fatal, unless immediate relief could be procur- 



LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 309 

ed. This was attempted by a powerful dose of 
tartar emetic. But all was in vain. The best medi- 
cal skill in Cairo was called to his aid without effect, 
and he closed his life of vicissitude and toil, at the 
moment when he imagined his severest cares were 
over, and the prospects before him were more flat- 
tering than they had been at any former period. 
He was decently interred, and all suitable respect 
was paid to his obsequies by such friends, as he had 
found among the European residents in the capital 
of Egypt. 

The precise day of his death is not known, but the 
event is supposed to have happened towards the end 
of November, 1788. He was then in the thirty- 
eighth year of his age. 

So much has been drawn from the traveller's own 
writings in the preceding narrative, that nothing ci 
be added to make the reader better acquainted with 
the constitution of his mind, the qualities of his heart 
or the characteristics of his genius. Mr Beaufoy'- 
description of him is short, but discriminating, and 
the more worthy of regard, as having been founded 
on personal knowledge. 

" To those who have never seen Mr Ledyard it 
may not, perhaps, be uninteresting to know, that his 
person, though scarcely exceeding the middle size, 
was remarkably expressive of activity and strength ; 
and that his manners, though unpolished, were nei- 
ther uncivil nor unpleasing. Little attentive to dif- 
ference of rank, he seemed to consider all men as 
his equals, and as such he respected them. His 
genius, though uncultivated and irregular, was ori- 
ginal and comprehensive. Ardent in his wishes, yet 
calm in his deliberations ; daring in his purposes, but 
guarded in his measures ; impatient of control, yet 



I 



310 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD. 

capable of strong endurance ;. adventurous beyond 
the conception of ordinary men, yet wary, and con- 
siderate, and attentive to all precautions, he appeared 
to be formedby Nature for achievements of hardihood 
and peril." 

His letters afford convincing proofs of his kind 
and amiable disposition, gratitude to his benefactors, 
humanity, and disinterestedness. This last virtue, 
indeed, he practised to an excess. No man ever 
acted with less regard to self, or on a broader 
scale of philanthropy and general good. That he 
finally accomplished little, compared with the mag- 
nitude of his designs, was his misfortune, but not his 
fault. Had he been less eccentric, however, in 
some of his peculiarities, more attentive to his im- 
mediate interests, more regardful of the force of 
circumstances, it is possible that his efforts would 
have been rewarded with better success. The acts 
of his life demand notice less on account of their 
resu^s, than of the spirit with which they were per- 
formed, and the uncommon traits of character which 
prompted to their execution. Such instances of 
decision, energy, perseverance, fortitude, and enter- 
prise, have rarely been witnessed in the same indi- 
vidual ; and in the exercise of these high attributes 
of mind, his example cannot be too much admired 
or imitated. 



THE END. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



